At its fifteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the  Convention on Biological Diversity, requested the Executive Secretary to organize a peer-review process to solicit advice, pursuant to decision 14/11, on annexes I to VI of decision 15/27, taking into account the earlier COP decisions and those of existing international instruments, and regional differences, to convene a moderated open-ended online forum on the results of the peer-review process and to make the outcomes available for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, with a view to making recommendations to the COP at its sixteenth meeting.

Based on this, the Secretariat has issued, on 28 February 2023,  notification 2023-017 inviting Parties, other Governments, organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities, and stakeholders to participate in the peer review process by submitting comments on the following draft annexes: 

1. Draft methods for cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis which best apply to the management of invasive alien species; 
2. Draft methods, tools and measures for the identification and minimization of additional risks associated with cross-border E-Commerce in live organisms and the impacts thereof;
3. Draft methods, tools and strategies for the management of invasive alien species as it relates to prevention of potential risks arising from climate change and associated natural disasters and land use change,
4. Draft risk analysis on the potential consequences of the introduction of invasive alien species on social, economic and cultural values,
5. Draft use of existing databases on invasive alien species and their impacts, to support risk communication, 
6. Draft additional advice and technical guidance on invasive alien species management.

The text of Annexes 1 to VI of Decision 15/27 is available here.   

The peer review process aims to help identify whether there are any important gaps of information or factual errors in the content of the annexes. In addition, the peer review provides an opportunity to consider the relevance of the annexes in the context of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and in particular, towards the achievement of Target 6.

Below are the peer review comments received:

A document on preliminary observations from peer review is being made available to support the Online Forum discussions.

A moderated open-ended online forum on the results of the peer-review process will be convened here from 19 to 26 May 2023. 

A revised version of the annexes, as the outcome of the peer review process and open-ended online forum will be made available for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, with a view to making recommendations to the COP at its sixteenth meeting.