The Interagency Liaison Group (ILG) on biodiversity and health was established pursuant to a memorandum of understanding concluded between the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2015, under the CBD-WHO Joint work Programme on Biodiversity and Health.
The ILG on biodiversity and health is co-chaired by the WHO and the CBD Secretariat.
The aim of the group is to enhance cooperation, promote knowledge exchange and support implementation of the interlinkages between biodiversity and human health, with a view to maximizing health and biodiversity co-benefits, addressing trade-offs, and reducing the common drivers of ecosystem change, biodiversity loss and negative health outcomes.
Activities of the ILG on biodiversity and health during its first meeting were made possible thanks to financial contributions from the European Union, the WHO and in-kind contributions from members and experts of the ILG.
First Meeting of the Interagency Liaison Group on Biodiversity and Health
The first meeting of the Group was held on 4-5 May, 2017 at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. For further information on the first meeting, select the tab below
The Interagency Liaison Group on biodiversity and health held its first meeting pursuant to COP 13 Decision
Decision XIII/6 . The first meeting of the Group was held on 4-5 May, 2017 at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The report of the first meeting of the Group is available
here, as well as the
presentation.
Second Meeting of the Interagency Liaison Group on Biodiversity and Health
The Second Meeting of the Interagency Liaison Group took place from 4-6 May 2020 and was held online in preparation for CBD COP 15 and UNFCCC COP 26.
The meeting focused on
three main themes:
1) New
WHO Guidance on mainstreaming biodiversity for nutrition and health;
2) Aligning the
narrative on biodiversity and health in the context of COVID-19;
3)
Draft Global Plan of Action on Biodiversity and Health to be presented to the forthcoming meeting of the CBD's science body (SBSTTA 24) for consideration by Parties at the 15th Conference of the Parties.
The WHO webpage related to the joint programme of work can be accessed
here.
WHO-IUCN Expert Working Group on Biodiversity, Climate, One Health and Nature-based Solutions
The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is also a member of the newly-established
WHO-IUCN Expert Working Group on Biodiversity, Climate, One Health and Nature-based Solutions, established in March 2021. The Expert Working Group builds upon and expands the scope of work carried out by the Inter-agency Liaison Group on biodiversity and health, co-chaired by WHO and the Convention on Biological Diversity between 2015 and 2020.
