SBI (Subsidiary Body for Implementation)

The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) is one of two permanent subsidiary bodies established under Article 10 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted in 1992. Together with the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), it forms the technical backbone of the UN climate negotiations process.

The SBI's core mandate is to assist the Conference of the Parties (COP), the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP), and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) in assessing and reviewing the effective implementation of these instruments. Its work covers several recurring streams:

• Reporting and review: examining national communications, biennial transparency reports, and greenhouse gas inventories submitted by parties.
• Finance: overseeing matters related to the Financial Mechanism, including the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility, and reviewing climate finance flows.
• Capacity-building: guiding work under the Paris Committee on Capacity-building (PCCB).
• Adaptation: handling issues related to least developed countries, national adaptation plans, and the Adaptation Fund.
• Loss and damage: contributing to governance of the Warsaw International Mechanism and, more recently, the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage agreed at COP27 (2022) and operationalised at COP28 (2023).
• Administrative and budgetary matters: reviewing the UNFCCC secretariat's programme budget.

The SBI typically meets twice a year: once in Bonn, Germany, in May or June at the so-called intersessional meetings, and again alongside the annual COP in November or December. It is open to all parties and chaired by an elected official who serves a one-year term, with the chairmanship rotating among UN regional groups. Decisions are forwarded as draft conclusions or draft decisions for adoption by the COP, CMP, or CMA.