CBD SBI 6 Closes Without Consensus as Only Four Nations Submit Reports

The sixth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity concluded without agreement on several key issues, forwarding numerous recommendations to COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia with bracketed text indicating unresolved differences. Only four parties — the European Union, Lesotho, Uganda, and Switzerland — submitted national reports by the February 28, 2026 deadline.

The four-day meeting, held at the FAO headquarters in Rome, ended at 11:55 pm on February 19, 2026 without consensus, despite SBI 6 Chair Clarissa Souza Della Nina of Brazil urging delegates to find solutions rather than brackets. On the sidelines, the FAO hosted a high-level roundtable on agrifood systems' role in biodiversity action. Preliminary findings presented at the meeting suggest that 35 per cent of all actions planned by countries to implement their biodiversity targets are directly related to agrifood systems, contributing across all 23 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The analysis also found that 48 per cent of countries report in their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans that biodiversity loss is already affecting or threatening their agrifood systems. Of documented impacts, 33 per cent cite effects on yields and productivity. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said the roundtable reaffirmed agrifood systems as a strategic entry point for biodiversity conservation, while incoming COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan of Armenia stressed that biodiversity and food security are mutually reinforcing and that resilient agrifood systems depend on healthy ecosystems and genetic diversity.

The failure of most countries to submit national reports by the deadline means their data will not be included in the global synthesis report, which is intended to serve as a biodiversity report card ahead of COP17. These submissions will feed only into the broader global review to be finalised at COP17, scheduled for October in Yerevan. An August SBI meeting will take up the unresolved bracketed text before COP17. The gaps in national reporting and the inconclusive SBI 6 outcome signal substantial work remains before the global community can assess whether it is on track to meet Global Biodiversity Framework targets.

Key figure — Only 4 of 196 CBD parties submitted national reports by the February 28, 2026 deadline