Conference agenda

Each session will be chaired by one or more conference partners. Space will be provided for voices from governments and intergovernmental organisations, academia, civil society organisations, decision makers, indigenous peoples, rural and local communities, and youth representatives.

Programme

The conference programme will be prepared in conjunction with conference partners during 2026. Click the link to download the current draft. A final agenda will be published in August 2026. Draft programme

The conference sessions will include a mixture of invited and offered presentations. Intending participants can submit proposals for presentations through the registration process Go to registration

The conference will open with a one-day plenary session during which Cohab partners and other international organisations will provide institutional perspectives on global challenges linking health and biodiversity and report on their own activities in science, policy and action on building partnerships for people and planet. This will set the scene for discussions over the following days.

On days two, three and four, parallel sessions will address a set of scientific and policy priorities at the interface of health and biodiversity

Pandemic prevention
Biodiversity for food and nutrition
Disaster risk reduction, relief and recovery
Oceans and health
Health equity for women and youth
Urban community health and well-being

The discussions under teach of these sessions will consider three sub-themes which will support the overarching theme of partnership:

State of Knowledge
Coherence and synergies across health, biodiversity and related sectors
The importance of human rights-based approaches to health and biodiversity

Each session will first look at the current evidence base on relationships between health and biodiversity in the context of the main session topic, including outputs from scientific research, the knowledge and experiences of indigenous peoples and local communities (with recognition of Afro-descendent communities), and outcomes of major policy initiatives. Discussions will also consider emerging issues at the interface of health and biodiversity, including impacts of plastic pollution, issues in synthetic biology, and the growing importance of nexus approaches. A particular emphasis will be placed on diverse values and different forms of knowledge relating to biodiversity and health.

Sessions will next consider synergies between international policies on health, biodiversity, climate change and other interlinked issues, with a particular focus on prevention and on the co-benefits of greater coherence and harmonisation. Key policy instruments for consideration will include inter alia the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the WHO Pandemic Agreement, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction under the International Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the SDGs. Discussions will also explore novel approaches to integration and mainstreaming at international and national level, including integrated science-based indicators, nature-based solutions for health, health-biodiversity cofinancing, economic accounting of health-related ecosystem services, and conservation as a tool in conflict resolution and post-crisis recovery. In addition to top-down approaches, sessions will also highlight the importance of bottom-up responses based on multi-partner collaboration.

Finally, each session will discuss how integrated health-biodiversity policies and interventions should actively promote human rights, ensuring that rights-holders, especially Indigenous peoples and local communities, are empowered to claim their rights, manage their local ecosystems, and participate in science and decision making. Sessions will also explore the differential contributions which nature makes to health and well-being across different communities, sections of society and marginalised or vulnerable groups. This will include consideration of the influence of biocultural diversity to health status and health outcomes, and culturally competent approaches to health that recognise the diverse ways in which people relate to, care for, manage and utilise biodiversity. Each session will hear stories from indigenous peoples and people of African descent, women, youth and local communities which illustrate their needs, perspectives and approaches to health-biodiversity linkages.

Additional lines of integration will be incorporated into the conference programme, including exploration of how nature-based solutions can promote health through conservation and ecosystem restoration, and the value of One Health strategies in the design and implementation of policies and interventions for the health of people and the planet.

On the final day, the conference will reconvene in plenary to review discussions over the previous days, and to highlight additional perspectives on cross-cutting and emerging issues at the interface of health and biodiversity.

The conference venue has additional capacity for smaller, focused workshops on a fifth day, which may be used by partners to prepare an initial outline for the conference report, and / or to further explore specific themes. Space may also be offered for additional events or meetings to other participating organisations, subject to availability.

Side events
Intended outputs
Preparatory activities

Participants can submit applications to host side-events in the morning, during lunch breaks and at the end of each day, to further share their own perspectives, experiences and solutions. The venue has capacity to run up to eight side events simultaneously. Applications can be submitted during the registration process. See further details here

A summary report on conference proceedings and key messages will be prepared for presentation at the CBD COP17 meeting in Armenia in October 2026. The report will be made available to COP17 delegations as a resource to help inform discussions at that meeting and support the development and implementation of the CBD's Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health. The report will also be presented at the UNFCCC COP31 at the end of 2026, and the 80th World Health Assembly in May 2027.

A detailed scientific and technical report will be published in early 2027, along with a compendium of papers based on selected conference presentations and discussions, to be published as an open-access resource in collaboration with a selected scientific publisher.

The reports will also be available for presentation and discussion at other multilateral fora, subject to resource availability. Partners and participants will also be encouraged to use and build-upon the reports through their own networks, and via delegations and engagement at other meetings.

The Cohab 3 conference is part of Cohab's programme of work for the period 2026 to 2030. It will provide a forum for Cohab's partners and other relevant organisations to examine the evidence base on issues linking health and biodiversity, to report on their own initiatives, research and experience in exploring and responding to these issues, and to identify opportunities for new and enhanced partnerships, policy processes and practical approaches to the issues.

The Cohab Initiative Secretariat and key partners will conduct a series of partner dialogues, evidence-gathering and capacity building work in the months preceding the conference. The lessons learned and knowledge gathered from these activities will help to shape the agenda for the conference discussions and provide the basis of a set of briefing notes which will be published online during June, July and August 2026, to outline the core concepts and narrative thread for Cohab 3.

Details of relevant activities will be posted here during summer 2026.

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