As the Parallel Events of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15), the Fifth Science-Policy Forum for Biodiversity and the Eighth International Conference on Sustainability Science were held virtually from April 13 to 23. The virtual sessions were jointly organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Institute for Future Initiatives of  University of Tokyo, International Union of Biological Sciences and Consortium of Scientific Partners on Biodiversity. Five sessions were covered as follows: Session 1 A framework for transition towards the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF); Session 2 Round table on biodiversity monitoring and data; Session 3 Harnessing science, technology and innovations to support the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework; Session 4 Links between loss of biodiversity, climate change and zoonotic diseases; Session 5 Young Scholars and Professionals Session: Ecological Restoration - framing challenges and opportunities. Deputy Director-General Xu Haigen, Director Liu Yan, Dr. Yu Dandan and Dr. Cao Yun from Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China attended this conference. Director Liu Yan from Research Center of Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety was invited to give a keynote speech entitled “The role of scientific and technological innovation in promoting biodiversity conservation” in the Session 3.

The conclusions and recommendations of the virtual sessions will be prepared by a dedicated task team, involving the sessions’ co-leads, and will be submitted to the twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 24), the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 3) and the third meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group to contribute to the preparation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.