The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

The Convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is another supplementary agreement to the CBD.

It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

[3] The notion of an international convention on biodiversity was conceived at a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity in November 1988.

[5] The Convention's text was opened for signature on 5 June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio "Earth Summit").

[4] The Convention recognized for the first time in international law that the conservation of biodiversity is "a common concern of humankind" and is an integral part of the development process.

It sets principles for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, notably those destined for commercial use.

[7] The previous executive secretaries were: David Cooper (2023–2024), Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (2020–2023), pl:Cristiana Pașca Palmer (2017–2019), Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias (2012–2017), Ahmed Djoghlaf (2006–2012), Hamdallah Zedan (1998–2005), Calestous Juma (1995–1998), and Angela Cropper (1993–1995).

The COP can also make amendments to the Convention, create expert advisory bodies, review progress reports by member nations, and collaborate with other international organizations and agreements.

In addition to committees or mechanisms established on an ad hoc basis, the main organs are: The CBD Secretariat, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, operates under UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme.

It provides assessments of the status of biological diversity and of various measures taken in accordance with Convention, and also gives recommendations to the Conference of the Parties, which may be endorsed in whole, in part or in modified form by the COPs.

[17] The United Kingdom, New Zealand and Tanzania carried out elaborate responses to conserve individual species and specific habitats.

[22] The Biosafety Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.

[23][24] The Biosafety Protocol makes clear that products from new technologies must be based on the precautionary principle and allow developing nations to balance public health against economic benefits.

[28] The protocol is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

[27][29] Also at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, held from 18 to 29 October 2010 in Nagoya,[30] a revised and updated "Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, 2011–2020" was agreed and published.

Reducing agricultural pollution and sharing the benefits of digital sequence information arose as key points of contention among Parties during development of the framework.

[41][42] This is aimed at creating an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) under UNCLOS to support the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (BBNJ or High Seas Treaty).

[46] The argument to enforce the treaty as a legally binding multilateral instrument with the Conference of Parties reviewing the infractions and non-compliance is also gaining strength.

[47] Although the Convention explicitly states that all forms of life are covered by its provisions,[48] examination of reports and of national biodiversity strategies and action plans submitted by participating countries shows that in practice this is not happening.

The fifth report of the European Union, for example, makes frequent reference to animals (particularly fish) and plants, but does not mention bacteria, fungi or protists at all.

[49] The International Society for Fungal Conservation has assessed more than 100 of these CBD documents for their coverage of fungi using defined criteria to place each in one of six categories.

[52] Non-commercial researchers and institutions such as natural history museums fear maintaining biological reference collections and exchanging material between institutions will become difficult,[53] and medical researchers have expressed alarm at plans to expand the protocol to make it illegal to publicly share genetic information, e.g. via GenBank.

[69] Under the theme, "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development", thousands of representatives of governments, NGOs, indigenous peoples, scientists and the private sector gathered in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea in October 2014 for the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 12).

The conference gave a mid-term evaluation to the UN Decade on Biodiversity (2011–2020) initiative, which aims to promote the conservation and sustainable use of nature.

Parties adopted the Voluntary Guidelines for the design and effective implementation of ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

[citation needed] The 15th meeting of the Parties was originally scheduled to take place in Kunming, China in 2020,[77] but was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[79][80] Twenty-one action-oriented draft targets were provisionally agreed in the October meeting, to be further discussed in the second session: an in-person event that was originally scheduled to start in April 2022, but was rescheduled to occur later in 2022.