The impacts of climate change are of great concern to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). At its fifth meeting, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD highlighted the risks of climate change, in particular, to coral reefs (decision V/3) and to forest ecosystems (decision V/4), and drew attention to the serious impacts of biodiversity loss on these systems and their associated livelihoods.

In 2001, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) established an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) to carry out an assessment of the interlinkages between biodiversity and climate change. The report of this expert group is published as CBD Technical Series No.10.

At its seventh meeting, the COP encouraged parties to take measures to manage ecosystems so as to maintain their resilience to extreme climate events and to help mitigate and adapt to climate change (decision VII/15). SBSTTA was requested to provide advice or guidance for promoting synergy among activities to address climate change, including activities to combat desertification and land degradation, and activities for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and invited the Conference of the Parties to the Untied Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to collaborate with the CBD to this end. Hence, in 2006, the AHTEG on Biodiversity and Adaptation to Climate Change produced a Technical Report providing such guidance (CBD Technical Series No. 25).

In 2006, at its eighth meeting, the COP highlighted the importance of integrating biodiversity considerations into all relevant national policies, programmes and plans in response to climate change, and to rapidly develop tools for the implementation of biodiversity conservation activities that contribute to climate change adaptation. The COP also noted the need to identify mutually supportive activities to be conducted by the secretariats of the three Rio Conventions (UNFCCC, UNCCD, and CBD), parties and relevant organizations (decision VIII/30).