Gathering policy-makers, farmers, and plant breeders, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) aims to conserve crop diversity and share its benefits for human and planetary well-being.

The tenth session of its Governing Body (GB 10) was held under the theme “From seeds to innovative solutions, safeguarding our future: contributing to the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework for sustainable food systems.” This theme highlighted the importance of crop diversity for food security, environmental sustainability, and socio-economic well-being, in the face of global challenges including climate change. It underscored farmers’ contributions to agricultural biodiversity, providing the raw material for new breeding technologies. It also drew attention to the interlinkages between the ITPGRFA and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). GB 10 followed the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by the CBD Conference of the Parties in December 2022. The Framework guides global biodiversity policy and action through four goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.

GB 10 addressed a series of items related to implementation of the Treaty and its Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing (ABS). Importantly, it considered the checkpoint report of the Co-Chairs of the Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the MLS, which provides reflections on progress made in the negotiations and a proposal on future steps, aiming to finalize the process at GB 11. The GB decided to continue the negotiations, with attention to: digital sequence information/genetic sequence data; expansion of the list of crops in the Treaty’s Annex I; and payment structure and rates.

The session considered items related to conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; farmers’ rights; and cooperation with other international instruments and organizations, including with the CBD on implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. It addressed:

• legal matters, including on compliance and the Third Party Beneficiary;
• financial matters, including the Funding Strategy and the budget; and
• administrative matters, including the Multi-year Programme of Work and a proposal on the term of office of the Secretary.

GB 10 was held 20-24 November 2023, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in Rome, Italy.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers for this meeting were Elsa Tsioumani, Ph.D.; Richard de Ferranti; Mike Muzurakis; and Wanja Nyingi, Ph.D. The Digital Editor was Matthew TenBruggencate. The Editor was Pam Chasek, Ph.D.