COP16 Biodiversity opens in Colombia

The United Nations conference on the conservation of nature has begun Monday in Colombia, a two-week marathon to try to unlock the means necessary to meet its objectives of stopping by 2030 the destruction of biodiversity by humanity. eacute;.

The Colombian Minister of the Environment Susana Muhamad opened the debates by taking the presidency of this 16th conference of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity , during a first plenary session opened by a prayer to “Pachamama”, Mother Earth, pronounced by members of one of the 150 indigenous peoples of the country.

This Biodiversity COP, the largest ever organized with 23,000 registered, is being held under high security in Cali, capital of a southwestern province on alert due to threats of a guerrilla in open war with the government.

Around 11,000 Colombian police and soldiers, supported by UN and US security personnel, are reinforcing security in Cali where 140 ministers and a dozen heads of state are expected at the end of October.

Susana Muhamad listed her five priorities for “a successful COP”, citing first “the importance of recognizing the work of indigenous peoples and local communities”, whose territories preserve the greatest treasures of biodiversity.

Participants at the opening of COP16 on Biodiversity, October 21, 2024 in Cali, Colombia © AFP – JOAQUIN SARMIENTO

“It is about recognizing the political power of those who are on the front lines of the biodiversity crisis and on the front lines of solutions” and “we need all the tools from humanity's ancestral experience,” she said defended.

“We are nature,” said the Colombian minister. “And it is from this deep, almost spiritual sense of humanity that we can create this common goal that should be as important, if not more, than the energy transition and the decarbonization” of the economy, addressed by the much more publicized COP on climate (the next one, COP29, will open in three weeks in Azerbaijan), despite calls to reconcile the climate crisis and that of nature.

– “Underfunded” –

“The planet has no time to lose”, “Cali 2024 could be a light in a very dark world”, she encouraged the delegates of the 196 member countries (without the United States) of the Convention.

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Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad at the opening of COP16 on Biodiversity, October 21, 2024 in Cali, Colombia © AFP – JOAQUIN SARMIENTO

On Sunday, they were urged by UN chief Antonio Guterres to “move from words to action” because “we are not on the right track” way”.

At COP15 two years ago, the historic “Kunming-Montreal” agreement, a roadmap to “halt and reverse” by 2030 the destruction of land, oceans and living species, essential to humanity, was adopted.

The countries had committed to presenting by COP16 a “national biodiversity strategy” reflecting their share of efforts to meet the 23 global objectives set: protect 30% of land and sea, restore 30% of degraded ecosystems, halve pesticides and the rate of introduction of invasive alien species, mobilize 200 billion dollars per year for nature, etc.

But to date, only 34 countries have fulfilled their commitment to submit these comprehensive strategies. And 107 have submitted “national targets,” that is, commitments on all or part of the goals, according to Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the CBD.

COP16 must also present the details of a mechanism for monitoring global efforts, with indisputable indicators, in order to hold countries accountable and prepare a credible official progress report for COP17 in 2026.

Irindia, an endemic Amazonian flower known for its resistance and adaptability, emblem of COP 16 in Cali, October 20, 2024 © AFP – JOAQUIN SARMIENTO

And negotiate a system for sharing the profits made by companies from rich countries, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals in the lead, thanks to genetic data from plants and animals preserved by developing countries.

But the crux of the matter will be above all financial: “We all agree that we are underfunded for this mission, that we need other sources of funding,” declared the president of COP16, urging developed countries, supposed to provide $20 billion per year by 2025, to announce new commitments.

The NGO Greenpeace, in a report released on Monday, was more alarmist and estimates that at the current rate the objective of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030 will not be achieved before the end of the century.

Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, when the CBD was created, only 8.4% of the oceans have become marine protected areas (MPAs). And only 2.7% of the oceans are “strongly” protected from human activities, Greenpeace estimates.

“Governments must accelerate the pace of ratifications so that the global ocean treaty comes to life in 2025”, “the only way” to meet the 30% target, Megan Randles, Greenpeace UK's policy advisor, told Cali.

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