Gene drives in the CBD process: A guide to COP 17 and CP-MOP 12

Gene drives are considered within two connected areas of work under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): synthetic biology under the Convention itself, and risk assessment of living modified organisms under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The two tracks have different mandates, bodies and outputs.

This guide maps how that work developed, identifies the documents most relevant to COP 17 and CP-MOP 12, and provides access to the underlying official sources.

Gene drives at COP 17 and CP-MOP 12: At a glance

• Decision 14/19 remains the central CBD decision containing provisions specifically related to gene-drive organisms.
• Under the CBD, gene drives remain part of broader work on synthetic biology, including horizon scanning, monitoring and assessment.
• Under the Cartagena Protocol, additional voluntary guidance for assessing living modified organisms containing engineered gene drives was completed and welcomed in 2024.
• COP 17 and CP-MOP 12 will consider how their respective processes should continue, building on more than a decade of technical and policy work.

How the CBD and Cartagena Protocol have addressed gene drives

To make the documentary history easier to follow, Monitoring Gene Drives organises it into two related institutional strands. This is an interpretation developed for this guide, not an official CBD classification or a suggestion that there are two current workstreams devoted specifically to gene drives.

The two institutional strands intersect and inform one another, but their documents are not interchangeable. A COP decision, a CP-MOP decision, an expert report and a subsidiary-body recommendation each have a different status and function. COP 17 and CP-MOP 12 should therefore not be understood as equivalent endpoints for two separate gene-drive processes.

How gene drives reached the 2026 CBD meetings

CBD discussions on synthetic biology began by considering its possible implications for biodiversity and the application of the precautionary approach. Gene-drive organisms gradually came into sharper focus through technical studies and expert discussions, leading in 2018 to the gene-drive-specific provisions of Decision 14/19.

Subsequent developments can be followed through two related institutional strands described above: horizon scanning, monitoring and assessment under the Convention, and the development of additional voluntary risk-assessment guidance under the Cartagena Protocol. These strands are not equivalent current workstreams. The broader synthetic-biology process continues towards COP 17, while the specific mandate to develop risk-assessment guidance for engineered gene-drive LMOs has been completed. At CP-MOP 12, their relevance is more limited and relates mainly to experience with the existing guidance and capacity-building to support its use.

Interactive guide to gene drives in the CBD process

The interactive table below traces these developments and shows how individual decisions, recommendations, expert reports and technical inputs connect.

It is an interpretive synthesis prepared by Monitoring Gene Drives from official CBD and Cartagena Protocol documents. The selection, organisation and descriptions of the documents—including their presentation through two institutional strands—reflect the project’s own analysis. It is not an official CBD account and does not imply endorsement by the CBD, its Secretariat, its Parties or any of its bodies.

Key documents for understanding gene drives in the CBD process

Some documents contain provisions specifically concerning engineered gene drives, while others provide the broader synthetic-biology or risk-assessment context for COP 17 and CP-MOP 12

Document	Role in the process	Why it matters
Decision 14/19	Gene-drive-specific COP foundation	Contains the central COP provisions specifically concerning organisms containing engineered gene drives.
Decision CP-9/13	Start of the Cartagena Protocol guidance process	Initiated consideration of whether additional risk-assessment guidance was needed for LMOs containing engineered gene drives.
Decision CP-10/10	Mandate to develop guidance	Requested additional voluntary guidance, with a specific focus on engineered gene-drive mosquitoes.
Decision CP-11/7	Completion and follow-up	Welcomed the completed guidance, invited its use and requested information on its applicability and usefulness.
Biosafety Technical Series No. 7 (CBD/CP/MOP/11/9)	Technical guidance	Provides voluntary materials supporting the case-by-case risk assessment of LMOs containing engineered gene drives.
Decision 16/21	Broader context for COP 17	Establishes the wider synthetic-biology work leading to COP 17; it is not specific to gene drives.
SBSTTA Recommendation 28/3	Basis for COP 17 discussions	Provides scientific and technical recommendations on the broader synthetic-biology agenda before COP 17.
SBI Recommendation 7/7	Implementation input for COP 17	Addresses the thematic action plan for capacity-building, technology transfer and knowledge-sharing in synthetic biology.
SBSTTA Recommendation 27/7	Basis for CP-MOP 12 discussions	Frames the broader risk-assessment discussion, including follow-up on existing guidance and consideration of other topics that may require guidance.

Download the complete chronology of the CBD gene-drive process

For readers who need the full documentary record, the synthesis table (version 1, September 2026) covers 57 decisions, recommendations, expert reports, working documents and technical inputs. Each entry identifies the document type, its inputs and outputs, and its place within the CBD synthetic-biology and Cartagena Protocol risk-assessment processes, with links to official CBD sources.