What legal options for the international agreement on biodiversity in 2020? A first look at the possibilities

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is struggling to deliver tangible results, or at least results in line with its ambition to halt biodiversity loss. Its current Strategic Plan ends in 2020, and most of the Aichi Targets 1 are far from being achieved. If the Parties to the CBD want to give the impression that they are doing more than simply postponing the targets they have failed to achieve, COP15 of the CBD, which will be held in Beijing in 2020, will undoubtedly need to reorganise the global framework for biodiversity in the post-2020 period in order to make it more effective. COP14 must determine the preparatory process, but little attention is currently given to the legal nature of this framework, whether in formal discussions or among civil society actors closely associated with the CBD. However, with a view to strengthening the momentum and the effectiveness of the CBD as an international convention, the discussions cannot afford to ignore the legal aspects. The various legal options that exist for the post-2020 framework will have different implications for the legal force and the architecture of the CBD regime, and thus potentially for its implementation.