Highlights

Global Dialogues: Digital Sequence Information

In 2019 and 2021, we designed two global multi-stakeholder dialogues on DSI, including representatives of governments, academia, the private sector and local communities, and supported their implementation, in face-to-face and virtual formats, with technical inputs and facilitation.

The informal Dialogues were implemented by the ABS Capacity Development Initiative under the Norway & South Africa Strategic Partnership and in co-operation with the CBD Secretariat. The objective was to support the formal negotiation process towards a new Global Biodiversity Framework by providing a safe space for experts and stakeholders to exchange views and explore options for dealing with Digital Sequence Information (DSI). The Dialogues were therefore held under the Chatham House Rule.

The first global DSI Dialogue was held physically in 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa. Some 65 participants from around the world met to better understand the many facets of this topic as well as the perspectives and interests of different stakeholder groups. The main result of this event was set of five basic policy options for dealing globally with DSI, as well as some draft points to consider in assessing the different options. The full report can be downloaded here: English (PDF 0.8 MB) – Français (PDF 1.1 MB).

The second global DSI Dialogue was originally planned for 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was moved to the virtual sphere and took place in the summer of 2021. A series of five online events was organised, three of which were held in time-zone based regional groups. During the series, a total of some 140 participants from all continents further explored options, criteria and change requirements for the way forward in DSI. The report is available here: English (PDF 1.5 MB).

To share the results with a broader world-wide audience, the results of the second DSI Dialogue were presented and discussed at a global reflection webinar, with simultaneous translation from English into French and Spanish.

You can watch the recording of the reflection webinar below. For recordings of the the other two language versions, please click here: Français, Español.

Reflection webinar on Global DSI Dialogue (English, 1:40 hours)