Closing Statement: “Peace with Nature? Calí’s COP saw bright spots in battle for biodiversity, but momentum cannot be stalled by suspension”

With the suspension of convenings after two weeks of intense negotiations at UN Biodiversity Conference CBD-COP16 in Calí, Colombia, Linda Krueger – The Nature Conservancy’s Head of Delegation and Global Director of Biodiversity/Infrastructure Policy – summarized key outcomes as follows: -

“After the momentous agreement of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at CBD-COP15, this was supposed to be the time where the world moved from agreement to action and made Peace with Nature. However, despite round-the-clock negotiations, Parties have failed on the first hurdle to show that they have the ambition and will to fully put the vital plans of the GBF into effect.

“There had been traction on key areas including the creation of the Cali Fund - an innovative mechanism that will stimulate private finance for nature by sharing the benefits generated through commercial use of Digital Sequencing Information of genetic resources. 

"There has also been growing corporate commitment to biodiversity; and burgeoning momentum behind mainstreaming – the embedding of GBF thinking across economic sectors – as part of wider efforts to galvanize resource mobilization. Elsewhere, agreement on the process for identifying potential marine protected areas bodes well for the 30x30 target of conserving 30% of Earth’s ecosystems by 2030, while recognition is also clearly growing of the need to align climate and biodiversity policies more closely.

"Additionally, the agreement to establish a subsidiary body to include Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in future biodiversity talks is a welcome move for recognizing traditional knowledge as vital for the protection of global and national biodiversity.

But with the COP suspended without the adoption of a resource mobilization strategy to scale up finance for biodiversity - and mainstream biodiversity in the financial planning of governments, the financial sector, and businesses - little traction can be made on any of the agreements at all. It is our hope Parties can reconvene the COP as soon as possible, and fast-track the action the world desperately needs to move the GBF forward.

“Ringfencing sufficient funding for nature remains an overwhelming priority – the fresh wave of financial commitments made in Calí, though welcome, were insufficient to bridge the ‘nature gap’ we highlighted pre-COP15, and resource mobilization remains a key item yet to be adopted. Simply put: we need more finance ministers to start showing-up to CBD-COPs!

"The irreversible effects of biodiversity loss will not pause while Parties figure out a process for approving the budget. Urgent action to finalize these negotiations must be the priority of all Parties. 

“The number of countries yet to submit national biodiversity roadmaps (NBSAPs) to the UN also speaks to a collective capacity crunch at policymaking level. That said, by the time of the COP’s suspension, 119 countries had submitted some level of GBF-aligned national targets – indicating that even in turbulent times, governments are still treating nature loss with increasing seriousness. It is this spirit of pragmatic environmental momentum at global level we need to carry forward to UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in just nine days' time.”