The 18th session of the Commission on Genetic Resources, based at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), starts on September 27. It is the only intergovernmental body at the global level, which addresses the concerns of livestock, crops, forest genetic resources, aquatic genetic resources as well as microorganisms and invertebrates.

Global Plans of Action (GPA`s) of FAO and its member countries have each been adopted as a policy response to the State of the World Reports Reports on Plant, Animal and Forest Genetic Resources, released by the Commission in the last years. These Action Plans provide a framework for promoting improved and effective conservation, sustainable use and development of the resources concerned. Global Plans of Action already exist for plant, animal and forest genetic resources, and their implementation is reviewed periodically by the Commission.

For the upcoming meeting, the Commission is expected to complete its work on a global policy response to the reports "The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture" and "The State of the World's Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture."

To kick off the meeting, the Commission hosted a Special Event on biodiversity for food and agriculture and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to be adopted at the forthcoming UN Biodiversity Conference.

For more information, including with daily summaries of the Meeting, see here.