SBSTA / SBI

The two permanent subsidiary bodies of the climate regime: the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). They do the preparatory work — methodological questions, technical guidance, reviews and draft text — that the COP and CMA later consider and adopt. They meet at a mid-year session, traditionally in Bonn, and again during the annual conference.

Why it matters in the room

Most substantive drafting happens here rather than in a closing plenary. Text that does not converge in SBSTA or SBI generally arrives at the conference unresolved, which is how technical items end up being settled at political level under time pressure.