Scope, Modalities, Format and Organization of the Summit on Biodiversity

A/RES/74/269View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 19f Convention on Biological Diversity, published in 2020.

What subjects does this mandate have?

2 subjects

What’s in this document?

24 operative paragraphs

Decides that the summit on biodiversity at the level of Heads of State and Government to be convened by the President of the General Assembly shall be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on the first day of the general debate of the Assembly at its seventy-fifth session, from 3 to 6 p.m., and on the second day of the general debate, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.;

Also decides that the summit and its preparatory process shall provide for the effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations, all members of the specialized agencies and all parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity;²

²United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1760, No. 30619.

Further decides that the summit will consist of an opening segment, a plenary segment for general discussion, two leaders dialogues and a brief closing segment and that the overall theme of the summit will be “Urgent action on biodiversity for sustainable development”;

Decides that:

The opening segment, to be held from 3 to 3.50 p.m. on the first day of the general debate, will include the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session, the Secretary-General, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the host of the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the host of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as well as an eminent champion of biodiversity and a youth leader, one of whom should be a representative of indigenous peoples and local communities, both to be selected, in consultation with Member States, by the President of the General Assembly;

The plenary segment will start at the end of the opening segment and end at 6 p.m. on the first day of the general debate and will comprise statements by States Members of the United Nations, members of the specialized agencies, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and observers of the General Assembly and the time limits for these statements, strictly observed, will be three minutes for individual delegations and five minutes for statements made on behalf of a group of States;

Delegations will have only one opportunity to speak in the summit, either in the plenary segment or in one of the leaders dialogues;

The closing segment, to be held after the conclusion of the leaders dialogues on the second day of the general debate, will comprise key messages from the leaders dialogues and concluding remarks by the President of the General Assembly;

Also decides that the organizational arrangements for the leaders dialogues will be as follows:

Two consecutive leaders dialogues of 75 minutes each will start at 10 a.m. on the second day of the general debate;

The leaders dialogues will address the following themes:

Dialogue 1: Addressing biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development;

Dialogue 2: Harnessing science, technology and innovation, capacity-building, access and benefit-sharing, financing and partnerships for biodiversity;

Each leaders dialogue will be presided over by two co-chairs, one from a developing country and one from a developed country, to be appointed by the President of the General Assembly from among the Heads of State or Government attending the summit, with adequate regional representation;

The time limit for interventions in the leaders dialogues will be three minutes, strictly observed;

The President of the General Assembly may invite parliamentarians, local governments, the heads or senior representatives of relevant United Nations entities as well as intergovernmental organizations, the secretariats of the Rio and biodiversity-related conventions, civil society, the private sector, including the financial sector, academia, youth, indigenous peoples and local communities to serve as speakers in the leaders dialogues, taking into account gender balance, level of development and geographical representation;

Invites all observers of the General Assembly to participate in the summit at the highest possible level;

Invites non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council with relevant expertise to register with the Secretariat to attend the summit;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to draw up a list of other relevant representatives of relevant non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions, indigenous peoples and local communities, youth and the private sector who may attend the summit, taking into account the principles of transparency and equitable gender and geographical representation, and to submit the list to Member States for their consideration on a non-objection basis;³

³The list of proposed as well as final names will be brought to the attention of the General Assembly. Where a name is objected to, the objecting Member State will, on a voluntary basis, make known to the Office of the President of the General Assembly the general basis of its objections and the Office will share any information received with any Member State upon its request.

Invites the United Nations system, including the funds, programmes and specialized agencies, regional commissions and relevant envoys of the Secretary-General and the secretariats of the biodiversity-related conventions, to participate in the summit, as appropriate, to highlight the need to support a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and urges them to consider initiatives, including through the United Nations Environment Management Group, in support of the summit and its preparation, particularly with regard to sharing relevant good practices, challenges and lessons learned;

Encourages participation in the summit at the highest possible level and the inclusion in delegations of representatives of parliamentary institutions, local governments, civil society, including non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities, community organizations, faith-based organizations, academia, philanthropic foundations, youth and the private sector, with due regard to gender balance;

Encourages all participants to demonstrate ambition to accelerate action on biodiversity for sustainable development;

Decides that the proceedings of the summit shall be webcasted, and encourages the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General and all relevant United Nations entities to give the highest visibility to the summit, including during its preparation, through all relevant media platforms and information and communications technologies;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to prepare, before the opening of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a factual summary to reflect the discussions of the summit held to highlight the urgency of action at the highest levels in support of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework that contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development1 and places the global community on a path towards realizing the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, “Living in harmony with nature”;

Also requests the President of the General Assembly to bring the summary of the summit to the attention of all participants, as well as all relevant United Nations entities, the secretariats of the Rio and biodiversity-related conventions and all other relevant stakeholders;

Further requests the President of the General Assembly, in consultation with Member States, to finalize the organizational arrangements for the summit.

31 March 2020

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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