Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata
The 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) took place in Cali, Colombia from 21 October to 1 November. The CBD is one of the three global environmental conventions established during United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 and often hailed as the ‘Earth Summit’. The other two being the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (which is currently taking place in Azerbaijan), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification which will happen before the end of the year.
The purpose of these Conferences of the Parties’(COP) is to bring the participating countries together to discuss and negotiate concrete actions to address the pressing environmental challenges of our times. All three conventions have almost universal participation (196 or more countries each). In the case of the recent CBD COP 16, and despite some progress along some fronts, the glass unfortunately remains half empty. However, there was some good news: three major agreements were reached.
The first was the establishment of a permanent subsidiary body for Indigenous People and local communities (IPLCs), and mechanisms to enhance the role of people of African descent in the implementation of the CBD. This new subsidiary body will enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in discussions and negotiations related to the implementation of the convention.
The second breakthrough was the establishment of the “Cali Fund,” a multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism related to the use of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources. In other words, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, animal and plant breeding and other industries that currently benefit from DSI could share those benefits and contribute to a fund which supports developing countries and Indigenous People. However, the mechanism is non-binding and relies on voluntary monetary contributions.
After eight years of arduous negotiations, the third accomplishment included the adoption of options for ecologically and biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs), which will facilitate the implementation of marine conservation and management.
Whilst this progress is positive, unfortunately important decisions related to resource mobilization, a financial mechanism for the Convention, planning, monitoring, reporting, review, and the CBD Secretariat budget were not approved because the meeting ended before consensus could be reached. Hundreds of pages of draft decisions remain pending. And without a budget, the operations of the Secretariat could be interrupted, although this is unlikely.
The bottom line is that a significant gap remains between what is needed to support the 30 by 30 target (30 percent of all terrestrial and marine ecosystems protected by 2030), and the resources currently available to achieve these targets. As former Director General of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Marco Lambertini said in a closing statement, “it is clear significant shortfalls remain in funding nature’s recovery. We still see a finance gap of around $20 billion a year to support the 30 by 30 target, and at least $2.6 trillion of subsidies annually are harmful to nature. We are falling dangerously short of what’s needed to deliver a nature-positive future.”
The glass is indeed half empty—and, unfortunately, still draining fast.
Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata is Executive Director, Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future at Qatar Foundation.
Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata is the Executive Director of Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future
