UN Biodiversity Talks Stalled, but Protecting Nature Cannot Wait

This article by  Crystal Davis and Charles (Chip) Barber originally appeared on the website of the World Resources Institute.

COP16 in Cali: A Gathering for Global Biodiversity 🌍

Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 2, Cali, Colombia hosted some 23,000 people at the UN biodiversity summit. Political leaders from nearly 200 countries were joined by representatives from Indigenous communities, youth groups, business leaders, NGOs, and others. All came for a shared purpose: to halt Earth's rampant biodiversity loss.

Momentum going into the summit seemed strong. At the last biodiversity conference in 2022, national leaders reached a historic agreement to protect 30% of the world's land and water by 2030 and to mobilize billions of dollars for nature conservation. This year's summit, COP16, offered a chance to put forth concrete plans for achieving those goals.

But while the "People's COP" in Cali brought diverse voices to the table and highlighted growing urgency around the biodiversity crisis, progress on its core objectives came up short. Negotiators faced gridlock over key finance decisions and many countries showed lagging ambition. The summit ultimately ended before Parties could reach agreement on a range of issues — most importantly, how to finance conservation at the scale needed.

Still, COP16 offered a pulse check on the world's biodiversity efforts to date. It revealed how far the world has come toward its collective targets and what exactly needs to be done this decade to safeguard the world's precious remaining species.

COP16 Revealed Some Progress on Conservation — but Major Financial Potholes

The first official progress report on the global "30x30 goal," which calls on countries to protect 30% of the world's land and water by 2030, was released during COP16. It found that just over 17% of the world's land area and a mere 8% of marine and coastal areas are currently protected.

This shows progress: Over 2.3 million square kilometers were added to the total since 2020, an area twice the size of Colombia. Yet, the road ahead remains steep. To meet the target, countries must collectively protect another 16.7 million square kilometers of land (an area nearly the size of Russia) and over 78 million square kilometers of marine and coastal areas (more than twice the size of Africa) by 2030.

Much of the discussion at COP16 focused on how to pay for conservation and restoration at this speed and scale — particularly in developing countries, which house much of the world's biodiversity but have the fewest resources to protect it.

In 2022, developed nations promised $20 billion per year by 2025 to support developing countries' biodiversity efforts. They delivered $15.4 billion that same year (the latest data available) and made additional pledges at COP16. But these total in the millions rather than the billions still needed. And negotiations stalled around how to mobilize the funds; specifically, whether they should be channeled through a new dedicated vehicle, as some developing countries have asked for, or through the existing Global Biodiversity Framework Fund.

Other tools to raise public and private finance for nature also proved divisive. Much talk was spent on whether companies should have to pay countries for digital genetic information (known as "DSI") used to develop vaccines, medicines, and other products, if it originally came from organisms within their borders. This was seen as a potentially enormous new source of money for nature in developing countries. But while negotiators succeeded in creating a new DSI fund (the Cali Fund) at COP16, contributions were made voluntary. This means it's unlikely to deliver the amounts hoped for.

In short, countries are nowhere near closing the $700 billion annual gap in finance for nature.

What's Still Needed to Meet Biodiversity Targets on Time?

Halting biodiversity loss will require billions more in finance to protect and restore nature by 2030. But that's just one piece of the puzzle. Leaders also need to:

• Boost conservation and restoration, especially in 'megadiverse' countries: While all countries should deliver ambitious, actionable biodiversity plans in line with meeting the 30x30 goal, a few are critically important. The vast majority of species inhabit a relatively small swath of the planet, from the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia to coral reefs in the Pacific's "Coral Triangle." Countries that house these megadiverse ecosystems have an outsized impact on species health and survival worldwide.
• Fulfil promises to support traditional land management: COP16 shined a light on the critical role that Indigenous Peoples and local communities play in protecting nature. Many areas traditionally managed by these groups are among the most biodiverse on the planet — often more so than publicly or privately managed lands. Yet, few have seen their customary land tenure rights reflected in law.
• Bolster biodiversity efforts with economics, policy, and data: Even the best-laid plans will not succeed without policy and enforcement backing them up. To meet their goals, governments must shift toward economic models that work with rather than against nature. That starts with fulfilling their promise to reform $500 billion per year in nature-harming subsidies (such as those for unsustainable farming and fishing practices), on which almost no progress has been made so far.

With Nature on the Brink, Leaders Can't Delay Any Longer

Formal talks at COP16 proved slower and more contentious than hoped. But outside the negotiating halls, along Cali's crowded streets, the summit took on a life of its own. From song and dance to networking and open discussions, people from around the globe gathered to celebrate biodiversity and build momentum for protecting it. A raft of new initiatives emerged from this broader engagement, including on cities, restoration, food and land use, finance for tropical forests, and more. The summit proved that a diverse array of people is already rising to the task of tackling the biodiversity crisis.

Now, the question is whether governments, companies, and other leaders will harness that energy and urgency to help enable transformative action on a global scale. They know what needs to be done. Now it's time to act.

License

Davis, C., & Barber, C. UN biodiversity talks stalled, but protecting nature cannot wait. Retrieved from World Resources Institute. Republished under a Creative Commons 4.0 License.