Within the Norwegian Government, the responsibility for the conference is held by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment in cooperation with other relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. The conference is also supported by other national institutions.

• Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment
• Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Norwegian Ministry of Food and Agriculture
• Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries

The organizer of the conference is the Norwegian Environment Agency, a subordinate agency to the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

• Norwegian Environment Agency

Expanding opportunities for constructive dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders is one of the basic steps in integrating biodiversity considerations into each other's operations. This will be essential to the delivery of both the new global biodiversity framework and the Sustainable Development Goals. Since 1993 the Trondheim Conferences on Biodiversity have provided opportunities for dialogue and capacity enhancement amongst stakeholders on current issues relating to the biodiversity agenda. They intend to provide a forum for open and constructive dialogue, leading to a transparent and scientifically sound basis for addressing each of the chosen issues.

This requires input across a range of sectors and issues, and the Trondheim Conferences have always involved relevant UN entities and global institutions working on biodiversity and sustainable development. The partners and patrons working with the Norwegian Government on the ninth Trondheim Conference are the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These organizations inter alia provide valuable input to program development and will assist in preparing the conference report.

• Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

The Norwegian Government also received valuable input from a number of other organizations and institutions, including on program development.

Multi-stakeholder involvement and political engagement is essential if we are to gain real momentum towards the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming in 2020. The next two years will be critical for biodiversity and the future of our planet. As we prepare for the CBD COP15, thoughtful dialogues, based on the best possible scientific evidence, will be crucial.

Against this backdrop, H.E. Ola Elvestuen, the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, had invited a group of high-level representatives to explore options to raise our collective ambition to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. Distinguished guests were invited to a full day program in Trondheim on July 2. This included participation in the opening session of the Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity. The program continued at a different venue in Trondheim, with a ministerial luncheon, a roundtable multi-stakeholder dialogue, and a closing dinner.

• The Trondheim Call for Action (approved by high level meeting on July 2)
• Press release from the Ministry of Climate and Environment
• Policy Brief on necessity and design for an implementation structure for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (prepared by Professor Dr. Christina Voigt, University of Oslo, Department of Law)

Some of the participants at the high level meetings on biodiversity in Trondheim on July 2 also stayed on to participate in all or parts of the remaining programme for the Trondheim Conference.