Nairobi meetings 2026: CBD’s crucial discussions end with heavily bracketed recommendations for COP17
The 7th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 7) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concluded in Nairobi, following the 28th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 28)
The meetings conducted the first global stock-take of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), ahead of it reaching its 2030 halfway mark
Delegates found that fewer than half of CBD Parties remain on track to meet 2030 KMGBF targets, with marine, coastal and inland-water targets lagging furthest behind terrestrial ones
Recommendations on resource mobilisation, mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors, and benefit-sharing from digital sequence information (DSI) emerged heavily bracketed (unresolved), to be taken up at COP17
The unresolved text and outcomes will feed into the Kunming Dialogue (September 2026) and CBD COP17, scheduled for October 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) — Institutional Architecture
The CBD is a legally binding international treaty adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (UNCED), with three main objectives: conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. It entered into force in December 1993 and has near-universal membership (196 Parties); the United States has signed but not ratified it.
Key Details
- Governing body: the Conference of the Parties (COP), meeting roughly every two years
- Two permanent subsidiary bodies support the COP: SBSTTA (scientific/technical advice) and SBI (review of implementation, progress tracking, financial mechanism review) — SBI was created via a COP decision in 2014, replacing the earlier Working Group on Review of Implementation
- Related protocols under the CBD: Cartagena Protocol (2000, biosafety/LMOs) and Nagoya Protocol (2010, Access and Benefit-Sharing, in force 2014)
- India ratified the CBD in 1994 and enacted the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 as its domestic implementing law, with National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) as the nodal body
SBI 7 and SBSTTA 28 are the CBD's own review and advisory subsidiary bodies; their Nairobi outputs are the technical inputs COP17 will formally negotiate and adopt.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF, 2022)
The KMGBF was adopted at CBD COP15 (held in two parts, with the final segment in Montreal) on 19 December 2022, replacing the expired Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2010-2020). It sets the global biodiversity agenda through 2030 and 2050.
Key Details
- Structure: 4 long-term goals for 2050 and 23 action-oriented targets for 2030
- The best-known target is "30x30" — Target 3 — protecting 30% of the planet's land, inland water, and marine/coastal areas by 2030
- Implementation is operationalised through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), which Parties must revise/submit against the framework
- A Monitoring Framework with headline, component and complementary indicators tracks progress; the KMGBF Fund (housed in the Global Environment Facility, GEF) supports finance mobilisation
The Nairobi meetings represent the first formal review of how far Parties have progressed against the KMGBF's 23 targets since its 2022 adoption — with fewer than half of Parties on track, this is a critical mid-course signal ahead of COP17.
Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and the Cali Fund
Digital Sequence Information refers to genetic sequence data derived from biological/genetic resources that is used commercially (e.g., in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, agriculture) without necessarily requiring physical access to the resource — raising a benefit-sharing gap that the CBD's traditional Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) rules under the Nagoya Protocol do not cover, since Nagoya applies to physical genetic material.
Key Details
- A Multilateral Mechanism for benefit-sharing from DSI was adopted alongside the KMGBF at COP15 (December 2022)
- Its financial arm, the Cali Fund, was operationalised and launched in 2025 following consensus reached at the resumed session of COP16 (held in Cali, Colombia, and Rome)
- The Cali Fund is designed to receive voluntary contributions from companies (pharmaceutical, biotech, agri-tech, cosmetics) that commercially benefit from DSI use, and channel a share of funds to developing countries and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs)
- DSI benefit-sharing remains contested on questions of mandatory vs voluntary contributions and transparency of company payments
Benefit-sharing from DSI was flagged as among the most contentious, heavily bracketed items at the Nairobi meetings, reflecting persistent developing-country demands for stronger, more transparent implementation of the Cali Fund mechanism before COP17.
- CBD adopted: 1992 (Rio Earth Summit); entered into force: December 1993; 196 Parties
- KMGBF adopted: 19 December 2022, at CBD COP15 (Montreal segment) — 4 goals (2050) and 23 targets (2030)
- 30x30 (Target 3): protect 30% of land and 30% of marine/coastal areas by 2030
- SBI 7 and SBSTTA 28 (2026, Nairobi): fewer than half of CBD Parties are on track for 2030 KMGBF targets
- Cali Fund (DSI benefit-sharing mechanism): operationalised in 2025, following the COP16 (Cali, 2024) agreement
- Kunming Dialogue: 7-9 September 2026, Kunming, China
- CBD COP17: October 2026, Yerevan, Armenia