-We’ve heard from the next generation of Pacific Islands negotiators at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Now, we turn to a negotiator with a rich history grounded in the CBD negotiations.
From attending the first four Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) between 1994 and 1998 to participating in the 17th CBD COP this month, Ambassador Ian Fry is a familiar presence in the corridors of multilateral environmental negotiations.
Yet his role in the CBD COP began before then, while working for EcoFund, a small Non-Governmental Organisation in Australia that proposed a biodiversity convention submitting it to the IUCN General Assembly in 1990 recommending that Commission of Environmental Law draft a Convention for the Conservation of Biodiversity.
Following that Ambassador Fry participated in two Intergovernmental Negotiating Committees with colleagues to form the CBD. Now, over 20 years later, Ambassador Fry has returned to negotiate at the CBD COP17 for Tuvalu.
“It’s great to see the international community is working towards conserving biodiversity. Of course, as many know, the statistics aren’t that great as far as species are concerned – we’re seeing a dramatic loss so it’s critical that the international community is working together to address some of these issues,” said Ambassador Fry.
“Effective negotiations always requires a team, and both our Tuvalu and Pacific delegations are here working collectively to achieve the best for our region and island homes along with the international community.”
A member of the Tuvalu delegation, Ambassador Fry is part of a wider team working together to address both Tuvalu, and Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS) concerns at the CBD COP17. The Tuvalu delegation comprises both new and experienced members helping to build capacity and strengthen engagement. Tuvalu is working along the PSIDS delegations for a stronger Pacific voice across the many negotiation threads at COP17.
The Convention on Biological Diversity entered into force on 29 December 1993, which was 90 days after the 30th ratification with the first session of the Conference of the Parties was scheduled for 28 November – 9 December 1994 in the Bahamas.
CBD COP17 is now underway in Yerevan, Armenia. This is the first COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the first opportunity for a global assessment of progress as the world works towards halting, and reversing, the loss of biodiversity.
Originally a biologist, Ambassador Fry then moved to negotiate in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change for Tuvalu in 1997, the year the Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the UNFCCC COP3. He has been working with the Tuvalu government ever since.
With a lifetime of negotiations behind him, working as part of teams to strategise and coordinate engagement, Ambassador Fry has facilitated many negotiations trainings both in the Pacific and beyond – building Pacific islands capacity to engage at the table with over 190 governments at time for multi-lateral environment agreements – working to build a consensus that is also in favour of our Small Islands Developing States.
“For our Pacific negotiators there are many challenges. We have such small departments nationally; our negotiators must do their national activities as well as attend the negotiations. You’ve got to be very multi-skilled in this process,” he said.
“Another challenge I’ve also seen is that culturally, our young Pacific people remain quiet and listen to the older people letting them take the lead at home. That’s tradition. This challenge to overcome the social learning of your position in society is a real one we face when we’re before the global community – we’re representing our country in these negotiations; we learn to speak up.”
Also working with the Climate Youth Negotiators Program providing in-person training on negotiations Ambassador Fry has seen many young Pacific people build both capacity and experience, and rise to become confident, effective negotiators.
He commends Pepetaua Latasi, the Permanent Secretary of Tuvalu’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Climate Change and Environment as one of the Pacific Islands negotiators that he’s seen grow over the years.
“She was a junior officer working for government when I first started and now she’s a Permanent Secretary – she does a great job. Pepetua was the Chair of the Warsaw Mechanism on Loss and Damage and she’s chaired negotiations – I’m constantly in awe of her abilities,” he said.
“It’s been a privilege to see a few people go through the training, and the negotiations process to see where they are at now – the Permanent Secretary for Fiji’s Ministry for Environment and Climate Change, Dr Sivendra Michael is another young Pacific Islander that’s a graduate of the CYP that is doing so well.”
Now working back in the CBD negotiations with his delegation, Ambassador Fry has noticed this is a more open process when it comes to the engagement of the civil society who submit their text proposals.
With week one completed the Pacific Islands delegations are gearing up for the second and final week of biodiversity negotiations. The week ahead is forecast to have continued late nights and long hours.
We featured young Pacific Islands delegates sharing their stories as first time negotiators in this CBD COP including Mr Aaron Puafitu Faaalo a fellow member of the Tuvalu delegation to share their advice for new negotiators.
We also asked Ambassador Fry for his advice for future negotiators having seen much over the years from the start of the CBD and his engagement in the first four CBD COP’s as well as his experience in the UNFCCC negotiations.
“Try to find someone who can help you understand the process, it’s a whole new world in these negotiations – there’s a language you have to learn and that’s just part of it,” he advised.
“You just have to experience it, and over time you’ll build up your confidence.”
The Seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) is held in Yerevan, Armenia from 19 to 30 October 2026.
The Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are Pacific Island Parties to the CBD.
For more information please visit: https://cop17yerevan.am/en
