Nature Takes Centre Stage – Biodiversity COP (COP16)
With the theme ‘Peace with Nature’ COP16 in Colombia came to a close on 2 November. Negotiators from 196 countries, as well as NGOs and civil society, gathered at the summit in Cali to discuss global biodiversity goals – bringing attention to the urgent need to protect, and restore, nature.
Why was COP16 in Colombia significant?
Unlike climate COPs, the biodiversity COP is hosted every two years rather than annually. So COP16 was the first meeting since the adoption of the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022. The GBF committed nearly 200 countries to ending nature loss by 2030, through 23 ambitious goals.
With just six years to go until the deadline for delivering on these global targets, countries met in Colombia with the aim of reviewing progress made and debating how to implement the goals.
To effectively protect and restore biodiversity, countries must turn words into action - by translating the commitment made to the global framework into national biodiversity strategies, plans, and laws, and ultimately on-the-ground impact.
It was a chance for signatories to live up to the commitment made two years ago.
Hosting the conference in Colombia also underscored the critical role of Latin American countries in preserving biodiversity – particularly the Amazon rainforest.
So, what progress has been made towards biodiversity goals?
Despite the global commitments made in 2022, biodiversity loss is still accelerating. Nearly a million species are at risk of extinction – facing pressures from climate change, overexploitation, habitat destruction, and pollution.
A joint investigation by Carbon Brief and the Guardian also revealed that the vast majority of countries missed the deadline to set out their plans on how to achieve the CBF’s targets. By the end of the summit, just 44 out of 196 parties (22%) had submitted their national biodiversity plans.
During COP16, the IUCN updated its Red List of endangered species. The shocking update revealed that more than one in three (38%) tree species worldwide face extinction – with the number of threatened trees more than double the number of all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians combined.
Over 100 countries have officially signed onto the 30x30 target. The Protected Planet Report - released by UNEP, IUCN, and WCPA at COP16 – shows that although there’s been progress, the world is nowhere near meeting this. With only 17% of land and 8% of ocean protected, we still have a long way to go... Funding and resource mobilisation are cited as key challenges, particularly for low-income nations.
"Nature is life. And yet we are waging war against it. A war where there can be no winner. This is what an existential crisis looks like." - Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General at COP16.
UNEP Executive Director Inger Anderson and artist Benjamin Von Wong stand by the ’Biodiversity Jenga’ installation at COP16. Credit: UNEP / Duncan Moore on Flickr.
The High Seas Treaty was formally adopted in June 2023. Only about 1% of international waters (called the ‘high seas’) are currently protected. This treaty, once ratified, will allow Marine Protected Areas to be established at a global scale to protect marine biodiversity and safeguard this vital carbon sink. However, so far only 14 countries have ratified it, with 60 needed to enter the agreement into force.
Over the past few years, the Nature Positive agenda has also gained significant traction, and is rising up the corporate agenda – with ‘Nature Positive’ ambitions being shared alongside net-zero targets across various sectors. You can now make ‘nature positive’ investments, book a ‘nature positive’ holiday, and even buy ‘nature positive’ coffee. However, standardised metrics to measure ‘nature positive’ impacts are currently lacking, meaning some are worried the term is becoming a corporate buzzword with little accountability.
What happened at COP16?
Making peace with nature
The Nature Coalition was launched by Colombia, bringing together 21 countries from across 4 continents to make ‘peace with nature’. Any country can join the coalition, if they agree to a set of principles aimed at changing humanity’s relationship with nature and living in harmony with the environment. This includes committing to funding conservation efforts and sustainable development, cooperating internationally, and mobilising national societies towards preserving nature.
Indigenous representation
In an unprecedented move, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will create a dedicated Subsidiary Body to allow Indigenous Peoples to advise and offer their view at future biodiversity COPs. This is the first time a UN environmental process has done so and has been described as a ‘watershed moment’ for Indigenous representation. It builds on the growing recognition of the critical role that Indigenous Peoples and local communities play as nature’s guardians. And there is hope that similar actions will be taken by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other global mechanisms.
Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, speaks at COP16 in Cali, Colombia. Credit: UNEP/ Duncan Moore on Flickr.
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
Governments made a breakthrough decision on the scientific process for identifying marine areas with biological and ecological significance, which is crucial for implementing the GBF’s goals for the ocean. A database for decision makers will be updated to help establish new MPAs and introduce sustainable use measures. It will include information for national as well as international waters, supporting the High Seas Treaty in establishing MPAs in the open ocean.
Finance
Many were hoping that COP16 would deliver strong options for funding conservation, as finance is key to implementing the global biodiversity goals. One of the goals of the GBF is to generate $700bn per year in nature finance, starting with $200bn a year by 2030 and sourced from governments, private sector, and NGOs. Wealthier countries also committed to $20 billion annually by 2025.
The question around who will fund conservation, and how those funds would be raised and distributed was a key battleground at the summit.
On ‘finance day’ seven countries (including UK, Germany, France, and Norway) pledged a total of $163 million to the GBF Fund, signaling progress. The total fund is now $400 million, but this falls far short of the billions required. In comparison, $7 trillion per year is spent on nature-negative activities such as fossil fuels – representing around 7% of global GDP.
As the negotiations came to a close early on Saturday morning, several key issues were left unresolved. No agreements were reached on nature funding or on how to monitor progress on the goals. Many countries shared their disappointment that such key decisions were scheduled for the last day.
Measuring progress: The State of Nature Metrics
Achieving biodiversity goals requires consistent and reliable metrics to track conservation progress. But currently, there is no common approach to measure nature’s decline or recovery.
Since May, the Nature Positive Initiative has been engaging with over 100 stakeholders to put together a set of minimum metrics that can accurately measure the state of nature, and crucially begin to evaluate the success of nature recovery, from local to global scales. The ‘State of Nature Metrics’ aims to be a universal, standardised approach for terrestrial ecosystems.
A consultation is now open to refine and build consensus amongst stakeholders on the metrics.
Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, and Marina Silva Minister of the Environment and Climate Change for Brazil at COP16. Credit: UNEP / Freya Leon on Flickr.
Post COP16: What needs to happen now?
With just 6 years remaining to stop biodiversity decline (before the 2030 deadline), it is critical that countries take significant action towards the GBF goals. For that to happen, we need robust and fair funding mechanisms – with wealthier nations closing the financing gap – as well as a universal metric system for tracking progress, and all countries to submit their national biodiversity plans. These plans should include protecting vast areas of land and sea, restoring degraded ecosystems, and accelerating nature-based solutions.
The commitment to ‘Peace with Nature’ must be global and tangible, including securing the funding, technology, and collaboration needed to protect our planet’s biodiversity for generations to come.
Recognition of the need to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change together is growing. In an early draft of the COP16 text, Colombia proposed using the same language from the COP28 text; biodiversity goals “will not be possible” to achieve without “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”. However, in later drafts this was removed. The phrase has also struggled to make it into other agreements this year, including the UN Pact for the Future and G20 Ministerial Statement.
Yet it is clear that biodiversity and climate change are inextricably linked. We cannot tackle one without the other:
Nature can deliver one third of the global emissions reductions needed to stay within climate goals.
Climate change is a key driver of biodiversity loss, with the risk of extinctions increasing with every degree of warming.
The time for action is now.