The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling Articles 6, 23, and 26 of the Convention,
Recalling also decisions IX/8, X/2, X/10, XI/10, XIII/27, 14/27 and 14/34,
Recalling further decision 14/29, in which it recognized that implementation by Parties and underlying commitments needed to be strengthened to bring the global community on a path towards achieving the 2050 Vision laid out in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020, emphasizing that national reports, provided for in Article 26 of the Convention, continue to be a core element for reviewing progress in implementation as part of the multidimensional review approach, and recognizing that elements of the multidimensional review approach under the Convention should be technically sound, objective, transparent, collaborative and constructive, and aim to facilitate enhanced efforts by Parties,
Recalling that national biodiversity strategies and action plans are the main instrument for implementing the Convention at the national level and that national reports are the main instrument for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the Convention and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,
1. Adopts an enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review with a view to enhancing implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, comprising:
(a) National biodiversity strategies and action plans, revised or updated in alignment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its goals and targets as the main vehicle for implementation of the Framework, including national targets communicated in a standardized format by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting;
(b) National reports submitted in 2026 and 2029, including the headline and, as appropriate, other indicators adopted in decision 15/5;
(c) Global analysis of information in national biodiversity strategies and action plans, including national targets to assess the contribution towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 1 Decision X/2, annex. CBD/COP/DEC/15/6 Page 2 considered by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting and at each subsequent meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
(d) Global review of collective progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the means of implementation, based on national reports and, as appropriate, other sources, to be considered by the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth and nineteenth meetings;
(e) Voluntary peer reviews;
(f) Further development and testing of an open-ended forum for voluntary country reviews; (g) Information on non-State actor commitments towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
2. Decides that future meetings of the Conference of the Parties will consider and provide any recommendations, as necessary, with a view to achieving the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
3. Also decides that the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review will be undertaken in a facilitative, non-intrusive and non-punitive manner, respecting national sovereignty and avoiding placing undue burden on Parties, in particular developing countries;
4. Encourages Parties to apply the Gender Plan of Action in all aspects and at all scales of planning, implementation, reporting and review related to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
Planning
5. Adopts the guidance for revising and updating national biodiversity strategies and action plans contained in annex I to the present decision;
6. Requests Parties to revise and update their national biodiversity strategies and action plans in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, following the guidance provided in annex I to the present decision, aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its goals and targets, including those related to means of implementation, and to submit them through the clearing-house mechanism by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
7. Requests Parties not in a position to submit their revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to communicate national targets reflecting, as applicable, all the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including those related to all means of implementation, in accordance with the reporting template provided in annex I, as a standalone submission, by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, in advance of the full submission of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan;
8. Urges all Parties to use the headline indicators, supplemented by component and complementary indicators and other national indicators, in relevant national planning processes, including national biodiversity strategies and action plans, according to their national circumstances;
9. Encourages Parties to adopt the revised or updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans as policy and/or legal instruments and to mainstream them (or elements thereof) with broader strategies and plans, such as national sustainable development plans, national development plans, poverty reduction strategies and other relevant national sectoral and cross-sectoral plans, in line with national circumstances and priorities. 2 Decision 15/11, annex. CBD/COP/DEC/15/6 Page 3 Reporting 10. Adopts the guidelines for the seventh and eighth national reports contained in annex II, including the draft reporting template;
11. Requests Parties to submit their seventh national report by 28 February 2026 and their eighth national report by 30 June 2029, to enable the preparation of the global reviews, as per Article 26 of the Convention, using the template provided in annex II,recognizing the specific challenges faced by developing country Parties in preparing and submitting their national reports in a timely manner, and the need for enhanced international cooperation to support them accordingly;
12. Encourages Parties to collaborate, where appropriate, with other reporting processes, including the Sustainable Development Goals and relevant multilateral environment agreement reporting, including by using a modular data reporting tool, such as DART, on a voluntary basis;
13. Requests all Parties to use headline indicators and to provide responses on binary yes/no questions, as set out in the monitoring framework of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in decision 15/5, in their national reports, and supplemented, as appropriate, by optional component and complementary indicators also included therein and other national indicators providing flexibility in the progressive implementation of this paragraph to countries, particularly developing countries, in the light of the fact that not all indicators are currently ready and of the need for capacity-building and development on the headline indicators;
14. Requests Parties to include qualitative information in addition to the quantitative information on Goal D and Target 19, particularly in terms of the provisioning of means of implementation;
Review
15. Decides to consider, at its sixteenth meeting and at each subsequent meeting of the Conference of the Parties, a global analysis of the information provided pursuant to paragraphs 6 and 7 of the present decision, to assess the contribution towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
16. Also decides to conduct a global review of the collective progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the means of implementation, at its seventeenth and nineteenth meetings, based on national reports and, as appropriate, other sources of information;
17. Further decides to mandate the Subsidiary Body on Implementation to develop the concrete procedures for the global review mentioned in paragraph 16 above, including on the use of indicators, and to prepare the review for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting;
18. Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, at its twenty-fifth meeting, to provide advice on relevant scientific, technical and technological inputs that should inform the global review mentioned in paragraph 16, for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation;
19. Decides that the Conference of the Parties will consider and provide any additional recommendations, as necessary, at future meetings of the Conference of the Parties, on the basis of the inputs received pursuant to paragraphs 15 and 16, with a view to achieving the goals and targets of the KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
20. Recognizes that Parties may take the outcome of the global review into account in future revisions and implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, including the provision of means of implementation to developing country Parties, with a view to improving actions and efforts, as appropriate;
21. Invites Parties hosting the seventeenth and nineteenth meetings of the Conference of the Parties to consider organizing a high-level discussion on the review of progress towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; Cooperation, synergies and stakeholder engagement
22. Recognizes that other biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements will contribute to the implementation with respect to relevant or corresponding elements of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework consistent with their mandates and priorities;
23. Encourages Parties:
(a) To include in their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and national reports, relevant actions to implement commitments and recommendations under each of the biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements to which they are a party;
(b) To facilitate, as appropriate, engagement with and coordination among focal points for other relevant multilateral environment agreements and the Rio conventions;
(c) To enable the full and effective participation and engagement of women, indigenous peoples and local communities, youth, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, all levels of government and stakeholders from all other relevant sectors, in all levels of development and implementation of the national biodiversity strategies and action plans, as well as in the preparation of the seventh and eighth national reports;
(d) To ensure consultations in order to obtain the free, prior and informed consent3 of indigenous peoples and local communities, as appropriate, in their engagement and participation in the updating and revision of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and national targets, with respect to measures that may affect them. 24. Invites Parties and other Governments to cooperate at the regional and international levels in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
25. Takes note of the core reporting elements for sharing voluntary non-State actor commitments that contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to be included in the online platform for the Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming and Montreal Action Agenda for Nature and People;
26. Invites indigenous peoples and local communities, subnational governments, cities and other local authorities, intergovernmental organizations, other multilateral environmental agreements, non-governmental organizations, women, youth, research organizations, the business and finance community and representatives of sectors related to or dependent on biodiversity, to develop, on a voluntary basis, commitments contributing to national biodiversity strategies and action plans and to the KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and to share them through the online platform for the Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming and Montreal Action Agenda for Nature and People;
Means of implementation
27. Requests Parties, in accordance with Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention, and invites other Governments and relevant organizations, to provide financial and technical support for enabling the implementation of the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework described in the present decision, especially for developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States;
28. Invites relevant international, regional, subregional or national organizations to support Parties in updating and revising national biodiversity strategies and action plans and in the preparation of national reports, including through the provision of relevant data, support for implementation of the monitoring framework and information and capacity-development activities;
29. Requests the Executive Secretary to support the operationalization of the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review set out in paragraph 1 of the present decision, including, as appropriate, by:
(a) Supporting the implementation of the guidelines set out in annexes I and II to the present decision;
(b) Supporting the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in the further development and\or piloting of the template contained in annex II to the present decision, and of core elements for reporting of non-State actors, where needed, and in an inclusive and transparent manner;
(c) Supporting the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in the further development and piloting of a modus operandi of an open-ended forum for the voluntary country review, which may include possible expert assisted reviews;
(d) Further developing the online reporting tool for national reports on the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention;
(e) Further developing the online decision-tracking tool; (f) Further developing a mechanism for tracking commitments of non-State actors, including voluntary online reporting, in accordance with the Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming and Montreal Action Agenda for Nature and People;
(g) Facilitating of the voluntary use of modular tools for data reporting, such as the Data Reporting Tool (DaRT);
(h) Compiling views from Parties on the concrete procedures for the global review mentioned in paragraph 16 of the present decision, to support the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in the development of these procedures;
(i) Coordinating the preparation of the inputs referred to in paragraphs 15 and 16 of the present decision in a transparent manner;
(j) Coordinating and collaborating with relevant partners to provide necessary capacity-building and development and other support, in particular to developing countries, to improve planning, monitoring, reporting and review;
30. Welcomes the financial and in-kind contributions, including from the Japan Biodiversity Fund, to initiatives intended to contribute to the support of the updating or revision of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and invites donors, Governments and multilateral and bilateral agencies to make funds available to support planning, monitoring, reporting and review, in support of the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including for the development and strengthening of national monitoring and information management systems.
Annex I
GUIDANCE FOR REVISING OR UPDATING NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS TO ALIGN WITH THE KUNMING-MONTREAL GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK
1. National biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) are the main vehicle for implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the national level. They are expected to be a key component of the enhanced planning, monitoring, reporting and review mechanism of the Convention for the KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The present document provides guidance on revising or updating NBSAPs in the light of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This guidance is in line with Article 6 of the Convention and complements previous decisions of the Conference of the Parties on various aspects of NBSAPs (in particular decision IX/8, para. 8, and decision X/2, para. 3). This guidance also takes into account calls to integrate and mainstream biosafety and access and benefit-sharing in NBSAPs pursuant to relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, as appropriate.
2. National biodiversity strategies and action plans should be seen as an umbrella process under which all national targets and actions relevant to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework can be planned, implemented, monitored, reviewed and enhanced. They are the main instrument through which Parties establish and communicate their national contribution towards the Framework and its goals and targets. They should involve and facilitate the engagement of all government sectors at all levels of government, and all stakeholders, indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth across society, to ensure that targets, actions and expected outcomes are coordinated, that the concerns of different actors are addressed, and that their ownership and commitment towards implementation are attained. The NBSAPs should promote synergies and planning across other biodiversity-related conventions and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).5 Additionally, the NBSAP process should garner high-level political support, ensure interministerial coordination and vertical integration, and facilitate implementation.
3. National biodiversity strategies and action plans should be revised or updated as needed, without interrupting implementation.
4. In accordance with Articles 3, 6, 20 and 21 of the Convention, the revision or updating of NBSAPs to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the corresponding national targets, should be self-determined by each Party in accordance with their particular conditions and capabilities.
5. National biodiversity strategies and action plans should promote and support increased efforts and actions, and improved implementation and consistency over time, in a cooperative and flexible manner, ensuring responsibility and transparency of information on national targets reflecting, as applicable, all the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and including information regarding means of implementation for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States in line with the relevant Articles of the Convention.
6. Revised or updated NBSAPs following the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework should contain the following common elements in order to ensure the utility of NBSAPs in the enhanced implementation, monitoring, reporting and review mechanism, while retaining their flexibility and their principal role as national implementation vehicles:
(a) National targets addressing or contributing towards each of the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and ensuring close alignment where possible, taking into account the availability of resources and means of implementation. Some Parties may wish to distinguish those targets and actions that will be implemented with already identified resources from those which they will only be able to achieve or implement if additional resources become available. National targets may leverage commitments made under other intergovernmental processes and relevant multilateral environmental agreements, including the Rio conventions;
(b) Concrete actions, policies and programmes designed to meet the national targets and contribute to the global goals and targets, including spatial, temporal and financial aspects, as appropriate. The development of these actions should go hand in hand with the identification of financing and capacity gaps and the development of national finance plans, or similar instruments, as well as capacity-building and development plans. This should also include the provision of finance and other means of implementation;
(c) National monitoring, reviewing and assessment. While revising or updating NBSAPs, headline indicators as well as component, complementary and other national indicators, where relevant, should be used, including to track contributions towards the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, taking into account national circumstances. NBSAPs may identify the relevant agencies responsible for collecting the data and compiling these indicators, any need for further development of such indicators, and any capacity development needs.
7. In order to minimize the time and resources required to revise or update NBSAPs, the alignment of existing NBSAPs and their targets with the new framework could be assessed. This assessment should consider, according to national circumstances, elements such as implementation gaps, existing goals, targets and indicators, the effectiveness of past actions, monitoring systems (including any data and/or knowledge systems and gaps), sectoral and cross-sectoral policies, finance and other means of implementation, and an assessment of how stakeholders, indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth were involved in the revision and implementation. This exercise will allow the identification of those aspects or components of their NBSAPs that need to be revised or updated in the light of the new framework.
8. Parties may take into account different value systems, to revise or update, implement and review their NBSAPs. This may involve a national coordination mechanism, including representatives of key government ministries and other authorities at all levels, national gender and biodiversity focal points, traditional knowledge focal points, national focal points for the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols, national focal points of the biodiversity-related conventions and the Rio conventions and for the Sustainable Development Goals, representatives of national statistical institutes and other data holders, indigenous peoples and local communities, non-governmental organizations, women’s groups, youth groups, the business and finance community, the scientific community, academia, faith-based organizations, representatives of sectors related to or dependent on biodiversity, citizens at large, and stakeholders.
9. Synergies among NBSAPs and the planning and implementation mechanisms of the other biodiversity-related conventions, Rio conventions and other relevant multilateral environmental agreements, and the Sustainable Development Goals should be identified and utilized to maximize efficiency and coherence. 10. Information on commitments from non-State actors may be a useful source of information for revising or updating NBSAPs. Additionally, Parties may include these commitments in their national targets, or they could be maintained as separate commitments from actors beyond the national Government, as appropriate to national circumstances. Double counting of commitments from non-State actors should be avoided.
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Annex
Information as requested in related decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting
It is suggested that Parties annex information on the implementation of the following decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting:
(a) Long-term strategic framework for capacity-building and development (decision 15/8, annex I);
(b) Strategy for resource mobilization (decision 15/7, annex I);
(c) Gender Plan of Action (2023–2030) (decision 15/11, annex);
(d) Long-term strategic approach to mainstreaming biodiversity;
(e) Global plant conservation strategy.
