Freshwater Biodiversity at CBD COP17: Close the Inland Waters Implementation Gap
COP17 is the first Conference of the Parties at which countries will collectively review progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). The formal agenda contains no stand-alone freshwater item, but several decision points are directly relevant to inland waters. Importantly, Agenda item 17(a) considers the strategic review of the Convention’s programmes of work. The recommendation before COP17 explicitly identifies inland waters’ biodiversity among the programmes that could be maintained and regularly updated, although the text remains bracketed.
This creates a significant opportunity for COP17 to turn existing commitments into action for freshwater biodiversity. Inland waters are already embedded across the KMGBF targets; the priority now is to mobilise investment, ensure the effectiveness of relevant policy frameworks, and strengthen implementation so that freshwater outcomes can be scaled up, measured and delivered before 2030.
