Notification 2023-117

Dear Madam/Sir, Reference is made to decision 15/6 in which the Conference of the Parties requested Parties to submit revised or updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), including national targets, by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16). I am pleased to inform Parties that the Secretariat has updated the online reporting tool to provide the modality for submitting national targets, as per Annex 1 of decision 15/6. The updated tool, which was launched during the twenty-fifth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 25), can be accessed at the following address: https://ort.cbd.int. The tool is currently available in English and will be available in the other official languages of the United Nations in the coming months. Details to guide Parties in the use of the tool and to clarify the types of information requested in different parts of the reporting template are provided on the online reporting tool site. I encourage Parties to submit their national targets through the online reporting tool, as soon as they are ready, and to upload their entire NBSAP document, including national targets, upon finalization. This can be done through the online reporting tool by clicking on the “My Country NBSAPs” tab and then “Submit Information”. Assistance in the use of the tool can be provided by sending an e-mail to: mea-cbd-monitoring-support@un.org . I would like to thank all Parties who participated in the testing of the updated online reporting tool and provided valuable feedback, which was taken into consideration by the Secretariat to facilitate Parties’ submission of Annex 1 in the tool. The Secretariat is currently carrying out activities to further update the tool to support online submission of the seventh national report, further to Annex II of decision 15/6, and will again be inviting Parties to assist with its testing. It is expected that the updated tool will be ready for use by Parties in early 2024. Please accept, Sir, Madam, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Acting Executive Secretary

To: CBD national focal points, Cartagena Protocol focal points, ABS focal points, SBSTTA focal points