The 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opened on October 21, 2024, in Colombia’s Cali with a ceremonial function. The meeting was opened with the invocation by indigenous peoples and local community members who talked about the importance of biodiversity in their lives.
However, their inclusion is not limited to just the opening ceremony this time. At COP15, Parties had agreed to develop a programme of work to ensure the full involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) in achieving the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). Whatever the decision, it is clear that indigenous peoples and local communities must play a central role in biodiversity governance. Their knowledge of sustainable practices offers lessons in resilience and conservation.
At COP16, decisions towards the institutional arrangements needed to realise this goal would be discussed. For this, options such as establishing a permanent subsidiary body would be discussed.
Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad, incoming COP President, pointed out that this COP would be the one for implementation towards meeting the targets set under the KMGBF. “It is essential that this is a platform for indigenous peoples, local communities and all sectors of society to feel represented and heard in their crucial role in making peace with nature,” she said. She also pointed out that peace with nature cannot be achieved through war or politics but only through including the other.
Muhamad’s words come just a few hours before the delegates begin to take stock of implementation of the adoption of the KMGBF put in place in 2022.
As many as 23,000 delegates from all corners of the earth are gathered in the city.
Other than discussions on IPLCs and their involvement in biodiversity conservation, Parties will also negotiate to operationalise the multilateral mechanism for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of Digital Sequence Information on genetic resources (DSI), including a global fund. If a robust system is put in place, this too will be beneficial for the communities who fail to benefit from the biodiversity they have protected for long.
With active participation from stakeholders across indigenous and local communities, industry, academia, and the scientific community, COP16 will test whether the international community can move from theory to practice in sharing the benefits of genetic research in a way that fosters equity and sustainability while mobilising resources for implementation, including support for indigenous peoples and local communities.
In terms of finding funds to biodiversity work, the situations seem to be tense. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the world is still 23 per cent short of this target for the end of 2025 which mandates that developed world would provide $20 billion to the developing countries.
The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, created by the Global Environment Facility, and the Kunming Biodiversity Fund, created by China, were launched over the last year but few countries and no private sector or philanthropic organisations have committed the needed funding. This jeopardises the goal of securing $200 billion annually from all sources by 2030.
Negotiators will discuss whether a new global funding mechanism is needed to complement the existing mechanisms. They will also look into options, including the private sector, biodiversity credits, blended financing and multilateral development banks in bridging the funding gap.
The negotiators would also discuss a few cross-cutting issues. These include the link between climate change and biodiversity loss. Delegates at COP16 will assess the latest scientific and technical data on the relationship between biodiversity and climate change, particularly the findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report.
The relationship between biodiversity and health will also be discussed and the delegates will review a global action plan that integrates these connections into national policies while supporting implementation of the Framework and the objectives of the Convention. Biodiversity loss is linked to the rise of zoonotic diseases, food insecurity, and ecosystem degradation. Conversely, healthy ecosystems provide essential services that support human health, from clean air and water to medicinal plants.
Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the leading drivers of biodiversity loss, and COP16 will review updated scientific information from Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on managing and controlling their spread. Voluntary guidance developed by the CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) will offer Parties the tools they need to combat IAS in the context of climate change.
With many such issues to be discussed for the next two weeks, things are likely to be quite eventful in Cali, a city that Colombian President Gustavo Petro calls ‘the heart of the world’.