The fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP14) will start on Tuesday in Sharm El-Sheikh with the participation of 196 countries, under the auspices of Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The event will begin with an African Biodiversity Summit under the heading “Land and ecosystem degradation and restoration: Priorities for increased resilience in Africa.”

The summit will discuss strategic policies and directives on the priorities of biological diversity in Africa and future eco-work programmes.

A number of initiatives will be announced at the conference, including declaring Sharm El Sheikh a green city, to set an example of sustainability in cities.

The conference will aim to foster partnerships with the private sector, the civil community and centres of scientific research, to link them to the biodiversity agreement. 

The UN will call on decision makers from more than 190 countries to step up efforts to halt the biodiversity loss and protect the ecosystems that support food and water security and health for billions of people. 

The conference includes the meetings of the governing bodies of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocols, as well a number of parallel fora and summit meetings.

It comprises the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the ninth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety, and the third meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing, as well as the high-level segment of these meetings. 

In addition, on the margins of the conference, pledges and commitments in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 will be made by governments, business, NGOs and intergovernmental organisations, cities and subnational authorities, indigenous peoples and local communities, youth and civil society. 

The convention will run until November 29.