Overview
- Rosprirodnadzor chief Svetlana Radionova said Russian will be used in high-level dialogue for the first time.
- She described this as the first instance of equal status for Russian in CITES since the convention’s 1973 founding.
- Radionova credited a Russian push backed by President Vladimir Putin for securing the status.
- She said using Russian will ease intersessional work and interpretation of adopted documents for experts and institutions.
- COP20 runs 24 November to 5 December in Samarkand, with about 3,000 delegates from 185 countries expected, according to CITES Secretary-General Yvonne Iguero.