IPPC Secretariat gets ready for key global biodiversity meetings leading up to the COP-15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Rome, 28 April 2021. The IPPC Secretariat has started preparations for the upcoming meetings organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-24) and the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-3), paving the way to the fifteenth session of the CBD Conference of Parties (COP-15). The IPPC Secretariat calls on all IPPC contracting parties to contribute to achieving our joint mandate to protect the environment by engaging with their national counterparts representing their countries as these CBD meetings.

The IPPC Strategic Framework 2020-2030 sets the direction to continue to protect the environment from the impact of plant pests over the next decade. It is known that plant pests that are invasive alien species can have a devastating impact on terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments as well as on agriculture and forestry. The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures and the IPPC Secretariat work together to engage with members of other biodiversity and environment related conventions, to enhance international collaboration and promote capacity development.

In particular, for SBSTTA-24, the IPPC Secretariat calls its contracting parties to review the item 3 on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

The International Plant Protection Convention is one of the biodiversity-related conventions. The Secretariat, hosted by FAO, and the IPPC Community are fully committed to supporting the targets of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The IPPC Secretariat stresses the importance to ensure that as parties move towards adopting the framework and its individual targets, they do not lose sight of the work that is already being proposed, planned and implemented under the mandate of the IPPC with regard to the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. National Plant Protection Organizations, which are often in Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry, share the same goals of protecting our environment where threatened, and of sustaining the environment for the future generations in complete alignment with the CBD’s vision for 2050 of “Living in Harmony with Nature”. The IPPC community is committed to working together to make this vision a reality.

In addition, attention should be drawn to item 10 on Invasive Alien Species.

In this regard, it should be noted that the CBD and IPPC Secretariats have a joint work plan, which includes work on IAS and we are in the process of updating it.

The IPPC Secretariat welcomes advice in the document (CBD/SBSTTA/24/10) and emphasizes the need to work with National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPO), especially for the use of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) for assessing the risks of potential IAS (pests) and providing science based options for the management of IAS that affect plants and their environs (ISPM 11: Pest risk analysis for quarantine pests, which includes assessing environmental risks). Engaging with respective NPPOs concerning IAS that are regulated as quarantine pests, the entire phytosanitary infrastructure could help manage IAS (as pests).

With regard to e-Commerce, the IPPC Secretariat would like to inform CBD parties that the IPPC Secretariat has created an informal network of e-Commerce experts, focusing on phytosanitary issues who are developing an IPPC e-Commerce Guide for plants, plant products and other regulated articles. SBSTTA-24 will also address issues related to synthetic biology, and risk assessment and risk management of living modified organisms, which could be an emerging area that NPPOs may be interested in.

For SBI-03, the IPPC Secretariat is recommending a review of items 7-C on Communication and item 8 on Cooperation with other conventions, international organizations and initiatives. In particular:

Item 7-C on Communication

The IPPC Secretariat has been participating in weekly meetings of the Biodiversity Communication Flotilla, composed of Public Information Officers of biodiversity-related conventions, relevant international organizations and initiatives. The flotilla aims at exchanging information, plans and best practices to communicate respective messages, while coming up with joint initiatives and advancing agreed messaging on the global biodiversity agenda. Recent collaborations include: support for each other’s social media campaigns (including the International Year of Plant Health, the International Day for Biological Diversity and the fifteenth session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures), development of joint products like the "People For Our Planet" aggregator tool, joint campaigns like the one leading up to COP-15, and joint usage of a media monitoring tool.

The IPPC Secretariat recognizes the importance and effectiveness of such coordination mechanism, and its value for the IPPC community, and calls for additional funding to be secured for biodiversity communication efforts at the global scale, including for the successful implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

Item 8: Cooperation with other conventions, international organizations and initiatives

As a member of the Biodiversity Liaison Group, the IPPC Secretariat participates in regular BLG meetings aimed at enhancing cooperation on matters of mutual interest, and serves as steering committee member for the UNEP project on synergies among biodiversity-related conventions.

The IPPC Secretariat recognizes the importance of this project in the context of broader collaborative efforts towards the protection of the environment and biodiversity. While the focus of the IPPC Secretariat’s involvement has been placed on communication-related actions, it is believed that the IPPC community could further benefit from a wider IPPC Secretariat’s involvement in the project implementation and in its development as it evolves into its subsequent phases. In particular, attention could be given to the Data Reporting Tool and its possible utilization in the IPPC context, as well as broader participation in the InforMEA portal, and consideration of joint capacity development efforts.

The IPPC Secretariat encourages NPPOs to liaise with counterparts in the Ministries of Environment to bring up the points of interest for the IPPC community at the said meetings.

The full IPPC Secretariat’s position paper for SBSTTA-24 and SBI-03 is available here.

The list of CBD national focal points is available at the following link: https://www.cbd.int/information/nfp.shtml

For more information on SBSTTA-24: https://www.cbd.int/meetings/SBSTTA-24

For more information on SBI-03: https://www.cbd.int/meetings/SBI-03

To contact IPPC Secretariat: [email protected]