COP Decisions
Background and Status
The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings.
To date the Conference of the Parties has held 12 ordinary meetings, and one extraordinary meeting (the latter, to adopt the Biosafety Protocol, was held in two parts). From 1994 to 1996, the Conference of the Parties held its ordinary meetings annually. Since then these meetings have been held somewhat less frequently and, following a change in the rules of procedure in 2000, will now be held every two years.
The twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea from 6 – 17 October 2014. The Thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) will be held in in Los Cabos, Mexico, in November 2016.
Meetings of the Conference of the Parties
| COP 12 – Twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, 6 – 17 October 2014 | 100 Documents | 35 Decisions |
| COP 11 – Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Hyderabad, India, 8 – 19 October 2012 | 125 Documents | 33 Decisions |
| COP 10 – Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 18 – 29 October 2010 | 107 Documents | 47 Decisions |
| COP 9 – Ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Bonn, Germany, 19 – 30 May 2008 | 110 Documents | 36 Decisions |
| COP 8 – Eighth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Curitiba, Brazil, 20 – 31 March 2006 | 106 Documents | 34 Decisions |
| COP 7 – Seventh Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9 – 20 February 2004 | 94 Documents | 36 Decisions |
| COP 6 – Sixth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity The Hague, Netherlands, 7 – 19 April 2002 | 114 Documents | 32 Decisions |
| COP 5 – Fifth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Nairobi, Kenya, 15 – 26 May 2000 | 81 Documents | 29 Decisions |
| EXCOP 1 – First Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Cartagena, Colombia & Montreal, Canada, 22 – 23 February 1999 & 24 – 28 January 2000 | 24 Documents | 3 Decisions |
| COP 4 – Fourth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Bratislava, Slovakia, 4 – 15 May 1998 | 71 Documents | 19 Decisions |
| COP 3 – Third Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Buenos Aires, Argentina, 4 – 15 November 1996 | 112 Documents | 27 Decisions |
| COP 2 – Second Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Jakarta, Indonesia, 6 – 17 November 1995 | 56 Documents | 23 Decisions |
| COP 1 – First Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Nassau, Bahamas, 28 November – 9 December 1994 | 33 Documents |
Major themes at meetings of the Conference of the Parties
| First ordinary meeting | Guidance to the financial mechanism; Medium-term programme of work; |
| Second ordinary meeting | Marine and coastal biological diversity; Access to genetic resources; Conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity; Biosafety; |
| Third ordinary meeting | Agricultural biodiversity; Financial resources and mechanism; Identification, monitoring and assessment; Intellectual property rights; |
| Fourth ordinary meeting | Inland water ecosystems; Review of the operations of the Convention; Article 8(j) and related issues (traditional knowledge); Benefit sharing; |
| Fifth ordinary meeting | Dryland, mediterranean, arid, semi-arid, grassland and savannah ecosystems; Sustainable use, including tourism; Access to genetic resources; |
| Sixth ordinary meeting | Forest ecosystems; Alien species; Benefit-sharing; Strategic plan 2002-2010; |
| Seventh ordinary meeting | Mountain ecosystems; Protected areas; Transfer of technology and technology cooperation. |
| Eighth ordinary meeting | Island biodiversity; Biological diversity of dry and sub-humid lands; Global Taxonomy Initiative; Access and benefit-sharing (Article 15); Article 8(j) and related provisions; Communication, education and public awareness (Article 13). |
| Ninth ordinary meeting | Agricultural biodiversity; Global Strategy for Plant Conservation; Invasive alien species; Forest biodiversity; Incentive measures; Ecosystem approach; Progress in the implementation of the Strategic Plan and progress towards the 2010 target and relevant Millennium Development Goals; Financial resources and the financial mechanism. |