Two-week meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) closes in Cali, Colombia
The 16th UN Conference on Biodiversity (CBD COP 16) in Cali, Colombia, came to an end this morning after long negotiations. COP 16 was a further important step by the international community for the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of nature. Following on from the 2022 adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at COP 15 in Montreal, aimed at protecting our foundations of life, Cali focussed on implementing this ambitious framework. The negotiations were arduous at times, but some key decisions were taken. For example, important agreements were reached on closer coordination of nature conservation and climate action, and on strengthening the role of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in biodiversity conservation.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke commented: "In Cali we took a huge step forward for nature conservation. This cost us much hard work and some heated debate. I am particularly pleased that the voice of IPLCs has been strengthened – for they play a vital role in global biodiversity conservation. The decision on biodiversity and climate change ensures better synergies between biodiversity and climate actions in future, through improved cooperation at political, planning and implementation level. We have also paved the way for closer cooperation between the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and for greater coherence between biodiversity strategy and action plans and climate action plans. With these outcomes, Cali has sent a clear signal to the upcoming climate summit in Baku for more nature-based solutions.
However, the intensive negotiations of the past two weeks have brought home to us how much we still have to do. I brought Germany’s National Biodiversity Strategy 2030 to Cali as our contribution towards implementing the goals adopted in Montreal. It is the pivotal strategy for the conservation and restoration of nature in Germany. Germany has proved a reliable partner and has increased its international biodiversity financing. That is an important step in also supporting other countries – especially those rich in biodiversity – in their implementation of the goals.
Conserving nature in all its diversity is about preserving our own foundations of life. Nature provides us humans with our daily needs: air to breathe, clean water, fertile soils, food, medicine and building materials."
Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) noted: "It is unfortunate that COP 16 concluded without adopting a strategy for mobilising further nature conservation funding. The good news is, we established a basic structure for a fund for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic data from flora and fauna. In addition, we succeeded in launching a permanent subsidiary body for indigenous peoples and local communities – a historic achievement. In Cali, the international community showed it had made a start on implementing the comprehensive nature conservation goals of Montreal. Everyone is aware of the gravity of the situation. We are in the process of irretrievably extinguishing billions of years of our natural world’s memory. A massive effort will be needed to turn this trend around, one which involves all governments and the private sector. That is why it is a good sign that numerous companies and banks joined the many countries represented in Cali. At the conference we discussed a range of good, innovative ideas on how a mix of public and private funds can lead to better financing for biodiversity conservation. In this context, as Federal Development Ministry we must not lose sight of the people in our partner countries of the Global South, which is home to most of the especially species-rich areas."
Overview of the most important decisions of COP 16
Indigenous peoples and local communities
Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) have a central place in the Convention on Biological Diversity. IPLCs comprise between 300 and 500 million people around the world; they account for some 50 percent of the population in areas with the most biodiversity. The state of biodiversity in sites managed by IPLCs is demonstrably better than that of biodiversity elsewhere, even in protected areas. In that spirit, in Cali a Programme of Work was adopted that takes greater account of the traditional knowledge of IPLCs in the fight against the biodiversity and climate crises. A permanent subsidiary body was also established to strengthen IPLC participation.
The nexus between climate action and nature conservation
While no agreement was reached at CBD COP 15 in Montreal, in Cali good decisions were taken on the negotiation point biodiversity and climate. Many parties, including Germany, strongly advocated better integration of biodiversity conservation and climate action at the political, planning and implementation level. For example, there will be further cooperation between IPBES and the IPCC. Furthermore, synergies between the implementation of the national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) and the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) will be used more effectively in future. Under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the potential for a joint work programme to enhance cooperation and political coherence is to be reviewed before the next biodiversity conference, COP 17, in two years’ time.
Marine protection and conservation
Important progress was made on marine protection and conservation as well. After eight years of negotiations a breakthrough was achieved on the scientific description of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs). This will establish a new, more efficient process for identifying biologically significant marine areas that need to be protected. That is not only relevant in the context of the CBD, but can also be used for the future designation of marine protected areas under the new UN agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).
Progress on implementation
The international community set itself high and ambitious targets with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. COP 16 was an important milestone for ambitious implementation. To facilitate good-quality, uniform reporting, further elements were added to the Monitoring Framework adopted at COP 15.
Digital sequence information
The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) agreed to set up an innovative new financing instrument – the Cali Fund for fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of digital sequence information (DSI). To that end, in line with the goals of the CBD, a global fund was launched to ensure that countries – in particular those rich in biodiversity – have a greater share of the benefits from the use of genetic resources.
DSI carries the genetic data of an organism as a sequence of letters which is stored in digital form. This information is important for both basic scientific research and for commercial uses, and can be economically beneficial.
Support from Germany
In Cali the German government sent an important signal on the margins of the negotiations. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) boosted the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) with another 50 million euros. Together with the 40 million euros from the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV), this puts Germany’s total support for the GBFF at 90 million euros.
In the international Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF), the BMZ set up a separate funding window for indigenous peoples and local communities in response to calls for more financial support. The LLF combines public and private funds to provide long-term conservation funding for natural landscapes. In Cali, the UK government also pledged 20 million pounds for LLF – a sign that the mechanism set up by Germany and also supported by France and Norway is working.
On the margins of the previous UN Biodiversity Conference two years ago, Germany and Colombia launched the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership to assist countries in the swift and ambitious implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and the Global Biodiversity Framework. The partnership aims to facilitate countries’ access to technical and financial support that suits their specific needs. It offers countries and organisations a comprehensive service (matchmaking mechanism) to find tailored solutions to their funding problems and knowledge gaps. At COP 16 this year, Germany got the matchmaking mechanism underway with a further 15 million euros of BMUV funding. Alongside the partnership, Germany supports several partner countries directly in the implementation of their national biodiversity strategies.
COP 16 concluded today and will shortly be followed by two other COPs that are key for global environmental protection and nature conservation: the 29th UN Climate Conference and the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification are both taking place this year.
Background
The two-week biodiversity conference under the header "Peace with Nature" began on 21 October 2024 in Cali, Colombia. It brought together delegates from around the world to take concrete steps to advance implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted at COP 15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. The outcome of COP 15 – "a Montreal moment for nature" – was a milestone for global nature conservation, with the GBF heralding a trend reversal from the destruction of nature to its restoration.
To that end, two years ago the international community adopted four long-term goals for 2050 and 23 medium-term targets for 2030. For example, food waste and the spread of invasive species are to be halved by 2030. In addition, countries will ensure that companies and financial institutions publish activities that have adverse impacts on biodiversity. Key targets of the GBF for 2030 are the effective conservation of at least 30 percent of terrestrial and marine areas and the restoration of 30 percent of degraded natural areas. Halving the risks from pesticides and reducing environmentally harmful subsidies by 500 billion dollars are further targets for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.