Representatives of 188 governments took part in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD) Conference of Parties/Meeting of Parties (COP/MOP), from 7-19 December 2022, at Montreal's Palais des Congrès, in Canada. During these two weeks, parties held marathon meetings that allowed them to finalize and approve measures for mitigating climate change effects and for the holistic protection of the environment.

Four goals and 23 targets in total were adopted. The goals are mainly about maintaining, enhancing, or restoring the integrity, connectivity, and resilience of all ecosystems by 2050, sustainable use and management of biodiversity, fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of digital sequence information on genetic resources, and availing adequate means of implementation (financial resources, capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, transfer of technology). Key targets include protecting 30% of Earth’s lands, oceans, coastal areas, and inland waters by 2030; reducing by $500 billion annual harmful government subsidies; Cutting food waste in half, and mobilizing at least $200 billion per year in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from all sources – public and private.

Delegates from 55 African countries were part of this important meeting. With technical support from the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency – NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), they took a firm stance on key issues of critical interest for the continent. Among such issues are for instance the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), resource mobilization, and digital sequence information of genetic resources.

The meeting approved a series of related agreements on implementing GBF, including planning, monitoring, reporting, and review. Concerning resource mobilization, it was agreed to help nations to build their capacity to meet their obligations. The Global Environment Facility was specifically requested to establish, as soon as possible, a Special Trust Fund to support the implementation of the GBF. The fund would complement existing support and scale up financing to ensure the timely implementation of the GBF with an adequate, predictable, and timely flow of funds.

Digital sequence information on genetic resources was one the most debated topics at COP15, having commercial and non-commercial applications, including pharmaceutical product development, improved crop breeding, taxonomy, and the monitoring of invasive species. It was eventually agreed to establish within the GBF a multilateral fund for the equitable sharing of benefits between providers and users of DSI, to be finalized at COP16 in Türkiye in 2024.

It was also highlighted in the approved documents the need to foster the full contributions of women, persons of diverse gender identities, youth, indigenous peoples and local communities, civil society organizations, the private and financial sectors, and stakeholders from all other sectors. Thus, the need for a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach” to implementing the GBF was emphasized.