Biodiversity at a crossroads: Key discussions set to shape nature’s future at COP16 in Colombia

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A Brazilian Indigenous man is pictured at the venue where the COP16 conference will be held at the Pacific Event Center in Cali, Colombia, on October 20, 2024. — AFP pic

BOGOTA, Oct 22 — During this month’s UN Biodiversity Summit, known as COP16, in the Colombian city of Cali, nearly 200 countries will be debating how they can save nature from the current rapid rate of destruction.

Here is what to watch for:

National action plans

Two years after brokering the world’s landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, countries now must spell out how they plan to meet more than two dozen globally agreed goals.

They include setting 30 per cent of their territories aside for conservation, slashing subsidies for businesses that harm nature, and mandating that companies report their environmental impact.

Countries are expected to submit those national biodiversity plans, known as NBSAPs, by the start of the Cali summit that runs from October 21 to November 1.

Delegates will use the submissions to gauge how much progress has been made since the COP15 summit in 2022 and what needs to be prioritised going forward.

Genetic information

Genetic information taken from plants, animals and microbes can be used in researching and developing new medications, cosmetics or other commercial compounds.

Historically, national laws and the 2010 Nagoya Protocol focused on how to pay the country of origin for the sharing of physical samples.

But now that genomes can be sequenced in hours, rather than years, the amount of digital genetic information shared online has exploded and is increasingly divorced from original samples.

The summit aims to establish a global multilateral system for paying for access to that data, called digital sequence information (DSI), with negotiators telling reporters in August that they expect an agreement during COP16.

A deal would likely spell out when payments are required, by whom, and where the money should go. Companies are hoping that the possible deal will eliminate the legal uncertainties of working with DNA sequences.

Indigenous communities

COP16 host country Colombia has put the inclusion of Indigenous and traditional communities at the center of its agenda in Cali.

The UN office for the Convention on Biodiversity — which oversees implementation of the original 1992 nature pact — has called for special protections to be given to Indigenous groups in voluntary isolation, stressing these communities’ role in protecting nature.

COP16 will look to finalise a new programme for including traditional knowledge in national conservation plans and decisions.

Summit negotiators will also discuss the possible creation of a permanent body on Indigenous issues to ensure that these groups are represented in the UN decision-making on biodiversity.

Boosting finance

Wealthy nations agreed at COP15 in Montreal in 2022 to contribute at least US$20 billion (RM86 billion) annually starting in 2025 toward helping developing countries meet their nature goals, with the target rising to US$30 billion by 2030.

Up to now, biodiversity aid has fallen short of those levels. Governments provided about US$15.4 billion to helping developing countries on biodiversity in 2022, up from US$11.4 billion in 2021, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In Cali, both governments and companies are expected to announce further funding efforts, while also discussing new mechanisms for channeling money toward nature.

Overlaps with climate change

While countries have traditionally discussed global climate efforts separately from biodiversity, leaders are increasingly looking at ways of addressing both sets of goals simultaneously.

After all, the two issues — climate change and nature loss — are deeply interrelated. Safeguarding nature helps to curb climate change, while global warming is also destroying biodiversity and driving extinctions.

Experts say that COP16 must raise pressure ahead of November’s COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, for better recognition of the role of nature in fighting climate change. — Reuters