AUDA-NEPAD organised a preparatory meeting towards the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) negotiations planned to take place in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. The preparatory meeting took place from 3-5 November 2022 in Dakar, Senegal, with the participation of 21 country delegates from ECOWAS countries, essentially in charge of biotechnology regulatory aspects in crop and health in their countries.

The preparatory meeting sought to inform participants about the latest developments in preparing the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework linkages with the Cartagena Protocol concerning the biosafety component. It also aimed to provide a platform for exchanging information, views, and experiences on key agenda items and also to dentify the African interests and work towards advancing those interests during the negotiations.

Several meetings will be held concurrently during the important CBD conference in Montreal: the 15th meeting of the conference of parties (COP 15) of the CBD, the 10th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP/MOP 10), and the 4th meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (COP/MOP 4). Hence the importance for African negotiators to have a common understanding of the issues at stake and agree on the best approaches to address these issues, from an ECOWAS or a continental perspective.

This CBD meeting was originally scheduled to take place from 15 to 28 October 2020, in Kunming, China, but was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, it was finally decided that the meeting would take place in two parts. The first part took place essentially in a virtual format, from 11 to 15 October 2021. The second part was expected to occur face-to-face in Kunming but was finally moved to Montreal.

In the previous CBD meetings, the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, serving as Secretariat of the African Group of Negotiators, contributed to keeping member states abreast with the evolving processes and discussions. As part of the strategy this year, this ECOWAS meeting is also expected to contribute to ensuring an organised and effectual participation of African Parties in the different concurrent meetings.