SBSTTA 26 – Putting precaution into action

Fol­low­ing Con­fer­ence of Par­ties 15 (COP15), a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary Ad Hoc Tech­ni­cal Expert Group (mAHTEG) on Syn­thet­ic Biol­o­gy was formed. In ear­ly 2024, the mAHTEG issued a set of rec­om­men­da­tions to the SBSTTA, out­lin­ing a method­ol­o­gy for the ‘broad and reg­u­lar’ hori­zon scan­ning process.

Draw­ing on the work of the mAHTEG, the Par­ties at SBSTTA 26 should:

1 — Agree the method­ol­o­gy of the broad and reg­u­lar process, as out­lined and road-test­ed by the mAHTEG, and con­firm that the process should occur at least each bien­ni­um (ie, between every COP).

2- Re-empha­size the impor­tance of mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nar­i­ty and pre­cau­tion to the func­tion­ing of the broad and reg­u­lar process.

3- Ini­ti­ate time­ly pol­i­cy for­mu­la­tion process­es on pri­or­i­ty top­ics iden­ti­fied by the mAHTEG, includ­ing the inte­gra­tion of Arti­fi­cial Intel­li­gence (AI) with syn­thet­ic biol­o­gy and self-spread­ing vac­cines for wildlife.

4 — Request that assess­ment guide­lines on gene dri­ves also incor­po­rate socioe­co­nom­ic, cul­tur­al, and eth­i­cal impacts.

5 — Address oth­er top­ics raised by the mAHTEG: includ­ing issues of North-South equi­ty, self-lim­it­ing insects, tech­nol­o­gy facil­i­ta­tion, and capac­i­ty-build­ing for hori­zon scan­ning, assess­ment and mon­i­tor­ing activ­i­ties.

6- Ensure no release of high risk and unassessed syn­thet­ic biol­o­gy organ­isms, com­po­nents, or prod­ucts takes place.

Please find our brief­in­gs here:

• Brief­ing long ver­sion
• Brief­ing short ver­sion