• During the 12-day long meeting, member states adopted 353 decisions, held around 46 rounds of voting and reviewed 50 listing proposals that resulted in the addition of 77 species to CITES Appendices, with Global South playing an instrumental role in shaping wildlife trade policies.
• Hosted by the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• What? COP20 CITES
• Held From: November 24, 2025 to December 05, 2025
• Venue: Silkroad Samarkand Expo Center (Samarkand, Uzbekistan)
• Host: National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in partnership with UNDP
• Significance: 50th anniversary of CITES
• Key Result: Addition of 77 species to CITES Appendices
• Other Key Approval:  To increase the CITES budget by 6.98% for 2026-28
• Proposed by: Brazil, Senegal and Mexico

Key Changes in Appendix Status:
New Additions in Appendix-I: Species like: oceanic whitetip shark, whale shark, and all manta and devil ray, were added in Appendix-I, the highest-level of protection by CITES.

• Also, Ecuador’s proposal to place all 3 species of Galapagos land iguana to Appendix-I was successfully adopted at the meeting.

Species from Appendix-II to Appendix-I: Ecuador also succeeded in uplisting the Galapagos marine iguana from Appendix-II to Appendix-I.

• Similarly,  Cameroon efforts resulted in moving Home’s hinge-back tortoise from Appendix-II to Appendix-I.

Species Downlisted to Appendix-II: Kazakhstan’s saiga antelope and South Africa’s bontebok were removed from Appendix-II.

• Mexico succeeded  in changing the protection status of Guadlupe fur seal and Parlatore’s podocarp from Appendix-I to Appendix-II due to improvements in their conservation status.

Other Keyhighlights:
India’s Opposition to EU Proposal: At COP20 CITES, India successfully opposed a European Union (EU) proposal to place guggul (Commiphora wightii) in Appendix-II.
CITES Budget: The convention successfully approved the combined proposal of Brazil, Senegal and Mexico to increase the CITES budget by 6.98% for 2026-28, aimed to fund the secretariat’s work programme.
About Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES):
Secretary-General (SG)- Ivonne Higuero
Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
Member States- 185 including 184 countries and the European Union (EU)
 Established- 1973