Indicate which actions have been carried out to implement this Resolution :
Convene stakeholders/Networking
Scientific/technical activities
Describe the results/achievements of the actions taken:
In 2017, the IUCN Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation Task Force was established, and its Chair appointed, under the authority of all six IUCN Commissions and the IUCN DG (see http://www.iucn.org/synbio). In 2018, the Task Force appointed a Technical Sub-Group, which drafted the Assessment of Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation. This was sent for peer review by a) expert peer reviewers appointed by the IUCN DG, b) Union-wide peer review, and c) public peer review; the Technical Sub-Group comprehensively revised the draft based on these peer reviews, and documented responses to each of the ~700 comments. The Task Force presented a "soft launch" of the assessment at the CBD COP 14 in Nov 2018, receiving useful additional feedback. The final technical assessment and synthesis & key messages were published in early 2019. Building from this work, in mid-2019 IUCN Council drafted an IUCN policy as a motion to the 2020 World Conservation Congress; this was shared for comment with the IUCN constituency, debated in the Regional Conservation Fora, and is now in discussion in the online forums. Finally, the Task Force received financial support for the process from the Governments of Switzerland and France, the Luc Hoffmann Institute, and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.
What challenges/obstacles have been encountered in the implementation of this Resolution and how were they overcome :
Importance of coordination and synergy with other ongoing processes on synthetic biology and biodiversity conservation eg CBD AHTEGs. To address this, a number of Task Force members are participating in the CBD processes, and IUCN convened a side event at CBD COP 14. In addition, some civil society organisations expressed concern about the taskforce's work; the IUCN President and ADG issued a "Statement on the Integrity of the work of IUCN Taskforce on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation" (https://www.iucn.org/theme/science-and-economics/our-work/other-work/synthetic-biology-and-biodiversity-conservation) in all three IUCN languages to address these concerns.
Briefly describe what future actions are needed for the implementation of this Resolution:
Only the final operative clause of the Resolution remains to be completed: debate and potential adoption of an IUCN policy. This will be advanced through the online forums in early 2020, and then go to the World Conservation Congress for further discussion in June.
