This year, the WCMB will be fully virtual because of uncertainties in participants ability to travel.

To accommodate an expected increase in participants, there is a new deadline for submission of abstracts for e-posters of 1st October.

There is sponsorship to cover the registration costs of over 100 participants from developing countries.

The conference programme will be designed to accommodate varying time-zones. It will enable all participants to view all talks and posters, even those in parallel sessions, at a time of their choosing. All materials, abstracts, programme, posters, talks, keynote presentations, and ‘breakout rooms’ for live discussion between participants, will be organised through one website. Side events to encourage live interactions between participants will be organised.

Conference registration fees have accordingly been greatly reduced.

The WCMB welcomes presentations on all aspects of marine biodiversity, both fundamental and applied sciences. The year 2020 is significant in being a deadline for both Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi Targets and UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 14 on the oceans, and is a starting point for 2030 goals and the UN Decade of the Oceans. Thus, we ask contributors to link their talks and posters to these events where possible. Our focus will be to prioritise contributions that are of general appeal and wide interest and, to minimise the number of parallel sessions and maximise inclusivity, participants can expect to be restricted to one presentation per speaker.