Description
Starting with the perspective from 50 years of the Club of Rome, on the limits to growth and changes encompassing biodiversity loss and climate change, this session will open the discussions towards living in harmony with nature, meeting the targets of the Biodiversity Plan within that context in different environments, and how science should or can contribute to paving the path to sustainability towards 2030 and beyond, at the time when we are starting the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development IDSSD.

This plenary will try to put together perspectives on how science can have a permanent dialogue to inform on challenges from policy-making of different socio-ecological environments (urban, marine, rural, terrestrial environments) – to implement the Kumming-Montreal Biodiversity Plan and at the same time achieve a sustainable development across countries.

Description
Among the different types of knowledge, from domestic and international scientific communities, field practitioners and citizen science, the integration of traditional and local knowledge is becoming a key aspect for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as to inform and build robust inclusive policies.

• IUBS

Description
The main objective of the session is to examine the progress made by scientific networks in order to meet challenges and strengthen needs for the implementation of the Monitoring Framework established by Decision 15/5 of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Sharing experiences, lessons learned and exploring new opportunities to strengthen monitoring systems at the global and national levels.

Description
This session will focus on the integration of solutions for biodiversity & climate change, focusing the discussion on nature based solutions and other approaches from IPBES and the IPCC – how they can inform decision making on both CBD and UNFCCC; which institutional setting is necessary to support synergies and overcome policy fragmentation or how to demonstrate the importance of integrating biodiversity and climate change when defining policies within and across the Conventions.

Description
Supporting the knowledge needs of the GBF at scale requires an innovative, coordinated approach toward biodiversity data, tools and analytics capable of accelerating a step-change in how scientific data, information and knowledge is managed. Integrating digital, taxonomic and genetic information available only from scientific collections, such as those maintained by museums, is critical to filling knowledge gaps. This event will present state-of-the-art technological and data-driven approaches to applying biodiversity collections data in research and decision-making, showcasing examples of how collections, genetic research, and citizen science can enhance NBSAPs and provide unique insights toward achieving global biodiversity targets.

Description
Despite decades of effort, we continue to lack sound scientific information on many species especially invertebrates. This critical shortcoming continues to block progress towards understanding, protecting, restoring ecosystems in a world dominated by climate change, biodiversity changes, and human activities. New technology, such as GPS, high-definition cameras, AI technology, UAVs, acoustic sensors, genotyping, and crowdsourcing, and high-resolution imagery through participatory/citizen science platforms are now producing massive data streams that could help to fill this gap but our ability to extract insight from these data lags substantially behind our ability to collect it. The key to unlocking the potential of these data will be new machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) methods, which are already beginning to have significant impacts on research across ecology and conservation.

The goal of this session is to synthesise the current state of technology and technology applications within biodiversity science, address key challenges that stand to gain from technology advancement, explore emerging technological developments that have the potential to meet those challenges, and to examine the impact of technology on biodiversity loss.

Description
The panel aims to facilitate an interdisciplinary dialogue to approach the “One Health” focus construction state at an international scale, and its development and integration at national institutional and policy scales, identifying gaps and bridges to strengthen “One Health” as a management tool to deal with the planetary crisis.

Achieving the sustainable use of biodiversity has proven to be one the most difficult challenges to overcome, within the framework of the biodiversity convention. A combination of interests, values and life styles across different societies are the driving forces behind the biodiversity crisis. Recent analysis synthetized by IPBES have shown the importance of recognizing this diversity in addition to the recognition of the value of nature, and the diversity of existing tools. But working in the restoration, maintenance and valuation of ecosystem services is a complex task, requiring multidisciplinary teams and perspectives, which makes it difficult to integrate into policies and actions, contributing to sustainability.

Yet, accounting for value systems is not well developed, although some examples already exist. Up-scaling, integrating and diversifying could be some inputs from research that could contribute significantly in the achievement of SDG and biodiversity targets (11 and 14) related to nature contributions to people.

In this session we will explore several aspects of NCP provision and restoration, the valuation and diverse value systems as well as existing tools and successful examples on approaches to work on NCP and sustainability.

This session explores the role of ecosystems in disaster risk reduction and post-conflict, post-disaster recovery, emphasizing the Sendai Framework’s call for sustainable ecosystem management. Building on Tidball et al.’s (2010) hypothesis, it highlights how community engagement in ecosystem restoration can aid social healing. The session will examine resilient social–ecological systems, diverse coping mechanisms, and governance strategies to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem recovery. Through global case studies, the aim is to demonstrate how nature can be integral to proactive disaster risk reduction and equitable, rapid post-crisis recovery, while also addressing supply chain and carbon neutrality concerns in recovery planning.

The Nagoya Protocol has its 10th anniversary since its adoption in 2014. This is an opportunity to consider its achievements, learnt lessons and to look ahead1. The inclusion of Digital Sequence Information in the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) process is a next step that needs careful considerations in order to prevent any slowing down of basic and applied research. The following questions will be addressed in a series of inputs and panel discussion: What are the lessons learnt from 10 years ABS in the use of genetic resources for efficient research in the fields of biodiversity and other biodisciplines? How can we encourage all countries to implement the needed mechanisms for ABS? In case of DSI, what kind of multilateral mechanism should be implemented and is favourable for science? Which role should non-monetary benefit sharing play in the mechanism? How do scientists judge the results of WG 2 on DSI from their hands-on perspective? Is there the need for additional databases mirroring or expanding the existing data centres?

The objective of this session is to generate an exchange of experiences on initiatives, strategies, mechanisms, and instruments that have contributed or can contribute to the transformation of environmental and armed conflicts, to advance in the construction of environmental peace, and to promote fair transitions towards sustainability.

This session addresses the urgent need for businesses and investment to embed biodiversity into their core operations, while also spotlighting the significant opportunities for innovation, partnerships, and financial growth that arise from such integration.