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International Environmental Negotiations Agenda
Mise à jour: 19 Aug 2023
With many important international environmental negotiations taking place in 2023 and 2024 in Geneva and beyond, this page provides the latest updates on the meetings that aim to tackle the triple planetary crisis.
Find information on environmental negotiations that took place in 2020-2022 on the dedicated update: International Environmental Negotiations Agenda 2021-2022.
UN Environment Assembly (UNEA)
UNEA-6
The 6th session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) will be held from 26 February to 1 March 2024 at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya (decision 5/4 of 2 March 2022). Morocco was elected President of the Assembly.
The theme for UNEA-6 is “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”.
UNEA-6 website
UNEA-6 theme | 6 February 2023
End Plastic Pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument
In February 2022, at UNEA-5.2, a historic resolution (5/14) was adopted to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution with the ambition to complete the negotiations by end of 2024.
2nd Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2)
The second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) took place from 29 May to 2 June 2023 in Paris, France. At the first meeting (INC-1), governments requested the secretariat to prepare a document to be considered at INC-2 with potential options for elements towards an international legally binding instrument, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastics as called for by UNEA resolution 5/14.
Outcomes | IISD ENB
3rd Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3)
The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) will take place from 13 to 19 November 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Science-Policy Panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution
Following UNEA resolution 5/8 entitled “Science-Policy Panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution”, a science-policy panel is to be established to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution.
OEWG-1
An ad hoc open-ended working group, mandated to prepare proposals for the science-policy panel, began work in 2022, with the ambition of completing it by the end of 2024. The first part of OEWG-1 took place as a one-day hybrid meeting held in Nairobi on 6 October 2022. The second part was held in person in Bangkok from 30 January to 3 February 2023.
Draft report of the second part of the first session of the ad hoc open-ended working group on a science-policy panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution | UNEP/SPP-CWP/OEWG.1/L.1 | 1 February 2023
OEWG-2
The second meeting of the ad hoc open-ended working group will take place in Dead Sea, Jordan, 11 to 15 December 2023.
Nature based-Solutions for supporting sustainable development
Following the adoption of resolution 5/5, “Nature based-Solutions for supporting sustainable development” at the UN Environment Assembly in March 2022, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has been requested to convene the intergovernmental consultations on Nature-based Solutions.
Final Intergovernmental Consultations on Nature-based Solutions
The final round of intergovernmental consultations on nature-based solutions will be in-person meetings held at the UN Office of Nairobi, Kenya, from 9 to 13 October 2023, comprising two days of regional consultations (9-10 October) and three days of global consultations (11-13 October).
Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS MEAs)
BRS COPs 2023
The 16th Meeting of the COP to the Basel Convention, the 11th meeting of the COP to the Rotterdam Convention and the 11th Meeting of the COP to the Stockholm Convention (BRS COPs) took place in Geneva from 1-12 May 2023.
The theme of this year’s meetings is “Accelerating action: targets for the sound management of chemicals and waste“.
BRS MEAs Note
Basel Convention OEWG-13
The thirteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG-13) is met from 21 to 23 February, at the Geneva International Conference Centre, with pre-meetings, including Bureau and regional meetings, held on 20 February.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
CBD COP-15
The 15th Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-15), originally scheduled for October 2020, is taking place in two parts. The first part of the meetings took place virtually from 11 to 15 October 2021. Due to the continued uncertainties related to COVID-19 pandemic, the second part of the meetings is taking place in Montreal, Canada from 3 to 19 December 2022.
The Conference included: 15th meeting of the COP to the Convention; 10th meeting of the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol; and 4th meeting of the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol. Critical areas of work were addressed with the Conference adopting an interim integrated budget for 2022. Progress reports from the Co-Chairs of the Open-ended Working Group on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and from the chairs of the Convention’s subsidiary bodies were also delivered.
One of the outcomes is that Parties to the Convention endorsed the Kunming Ministerial Declaration committing to negotiate a post-2020 global biodiversity framework that is effective in bending the curve of biodiversity loss – and matched by the necessary resources, and with an effective mechanism to monitor and review progress, in line with the Convention and its two protocols.
CBD Notification | 21 July 2022
CBD COP15 Website
Geneva Executive Briefing on the UN Biodiversity Conference | 30 November 2022
Information on the CBD meetings in Geneva | 4-29 March 2022
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
IPBES 10
The tenth session of the IPBES Plenary (IPBES 10) will be held from 28 August to 2 September 2023. The session will be hosted by the United States of America in Bonn, Germany.
IPBES Notification | 14 November 2022
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Animal and Plants Committees
The 26th Meeting of the Plants Committee (PC26) and the 32nd Meeting of the Animals Committee (AC32) took place from 5 to 9 June & 19 to 23 June 2023, respectively at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG) in Geneva.
CITES Notification | 9 January 2023
Standing Committee
The 77th meeting of the Standing Committee will take place at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG) in Geneva from 6 to 10 November 2023.
CITES Notification | 9 January 2023
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress
The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 took place on 3-11 September 2021 in Marseille.
- Forum | 4-7 September
- Exhibition | 4-9 September
- IUCN Members’ Assembly | 8-10 September with a first sitting at the beginning of the Congress
- Nature Generation Areas or “Espaces Générations Nature” | 4-11 September
Minamata Convention on Mercury
Minamata COP-5
The 5th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention will take place from 30 October to 3 November 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention)
Standing Committee
The 62nd meeting of the Standing Committee will take place at Secretariat headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, from 4 to 8 September 2023.
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)
ICCM5
The Fifth International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5), originally scheduled on 5-9 October 2020, will take place in Bonn, Germany, from 25 – 29 September 2023.
Intersessional Process
The first part of the fourth meeting of the intersessional process (IP4) took place in Bucharest, Romania on 29 August – 2 September 2022, and will be adjourned in Nairobi, Kenya on 27 February-3 March 2023.
These and previous meetings support stakeholders in their efforts to elaborate the future arrangements of the Strategic Approach and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 for consideration and adoption at the next session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5).
IP4.1 Summary | Earth Negotiations Bulletin
UN Convention on Climate Change
UNFCCC Conference of the Parties
COP 28
The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the UNFCCC will convene from 30 November to 12 December 2023. It will take place in the United Arab Emirates.
Subsidiary Bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Implementation (SBI)
SBSTA-58 / SBI-58
The 58th sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) took place from 5 to 15 June 2023 in Bonn, Germany.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Fifty-eighth Session of the IPCC (IPCC-58)
The fifty-eighth Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) took place at the Congress Kursaal Interlaken, in the city of Interlaken, Switzerland from 13 to 17 March 2023.
6th Assessment Cycle
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has rescheduled the approval sessions for the Working Group II and Working Group III contributions to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) and for the Synthesis Report.
Press Release | 28 May 2021
Working Group I
The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, finalized on 6 August 2021 during the 14th Session of Working Group I and 54th Session of the IPCC, is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change, bringing together the latest advances in climate science, and combining multiple lines of evidence from paleoclimate, observations, process understanding, and global and regional climate simulations.
Working Group II
The Working Group II report, which assesses climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability was released on 28 February 2022. The United Kingdom Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva organized a COP26-COP27 Briefing on the IPCC Climate Change 2022 Report: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability on 7 March 2022, with the support of the Geneva Environment Network.
Working Group III
The Working Group III report, which assesses the mitigation of climate change, was published on 4 April 2022. A Briefing on the IPCC Climate Change 2022 Report: Mitigation of Climate Change was hosted on 8 April 2022.
Synthesis Report
The Synthesis Report, which integrates the findings of the three Working Groups and the three Special Reports already released in this assessment cycle was released in 20 March 2023 in Interlaken, Bern, Switzerland.
UN Convention to Combat Desertification
UN Convention to Combat Desertification Conference of the Parties
COP-16
The 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP-15) will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2024.
Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention
The 21st session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC21) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will be held from 9 to 13 October 2023 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
UN Ocean Conference
2025 UN Ocean Conference
The UN General Assembly has decided to convene the high-level 2025 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development in France, in June 2025, to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. The Conference will be co-hosted by Costa Rica and France.
UN Water Conference
UN 2023 Water Conference
The UN 2023 Water Conference – formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) (A/RES/73/226)– took place at UN Headquarters in New York, 22 to 24 March 2023, co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
UN Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea
The 22nd meeting of the United Nations Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-22), on the topic of “Ocean observing”, took place from 6 to 10 June 2022.
UN Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea Website
IGC-5 on Biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction
UN Member States gathered in New York for the 5th Session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), from 15 to 26 August 2022. Following the adoption of UNGA resolution 72/249, these negotiations aim to establish a legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine BBNJ.
On the last day of that session, the conference, in considering the way forward, decided to suspend the fifth session and resumed it in New York from 20 February to 3 March 2023. At the end of that meeting, the conference decided to resume at a later date with a view to adopting the agreement. In this connection, the further resumed fifth session of the conference took place from 19 to 20 June 2023, tentatively, or on a date to be determined in consultation with the President of the conference.
Global Intergovernmental Meeting on Minerals
The Global Intergovernmental Meeting on Minerals will take place at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG) in Geneva from 7 to 8 September 2023.
International Labour Conference
The 111th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) place on 5 – 16 June 2023. The member States of the ILO meet at the Conference, held every year in Geneva, Switzerland, in the month of June.
World Health Organization
Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) for a WHO instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response – resumed
In December 2021, the World Health Assembly established an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The resumed fifth session of the INB (INB5) took place from 12 to 16 June 2023.
World Health Assembly
The seventy-sixth World Health Assembly (WHA76), the decision-making body of World Health Organization, took place in Geneva from 21 to 30 May 2023.
WTO Ministerial Conference
MC13
The 13th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC13) will take place from 26 to 29 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastic Trade
The coordinators of the WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastic Trade (DPP) are currently organizing the 2023 meetings, with plenary sessions scheduled to take place on 13 March 2023, 25 May 2023, and 11 December 2023.
Global Environment Facility
Seventh GEF Assembly
The Seventh GEF Assembly and Associated Meetings will be held from August 22 to 26, 2023 in Vancouver, Canada.
The Assembly is the governing body of the GEF that includes representatives of all 185 member countries, and is responsible for reviewing and evaluating the GEF’s general policies, operations, and membership. It is also responsible for considering and approving proposed amendments to the Instrument for the Establishment of the Restructured Global Environment Facility and any other recommendations coming from the GEF Council.