Ben Parker, PhD researcher at Imperial College London, and Bethan Laughlin, Senior Policy Specialist at the Zoological Society of London, outline the fundamentals of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and highlight key negotiation topics for the upcoming meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Colombia (COP16) in November 2024.
The world’s biodiversity is being destroyed at an alarming pace. Extinction rates are 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than natural levels and over one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. This has considerable implications; notably, biodiversity underpins over half the world’s market value, and its loss has been ranked as one of the most severe risks that humanity will face in the coming decade.
International collaboration and cooperation are vital for countering biodiversity loss; not least because they can encourage more ambitious actions and involve the transfer of valued resources. A central pillar of such engagement is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – a UN global framework for the conservation and sustainable use of all levels of biodiversity, from genes to ecosystems. The most high-profile events in the CBD calendar are when, every two years, member countries and a plethora of observers from civil society, academia, the private sector, and beyond convene for the meetings of the Conference of the Parties – the COPs. These are valuable for setting priorities, reviewing progress, and committing to future plans.
The most recent CBD COP, COP15, culminated in the adoption of a landmark agreement: the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The framework provides a roadmap that all member countries are expected to align with for how to establish ‘a world living in harmony with nature by 2050’.
The upcoming COP16 meeting in Colombia is the first COP since the GBF’s adoption, and is therefore an important opportunity to collectively review progress and develop plans for GBF implementation moving forward; especially in terms of national targets and strategies, and particular financial mechanisms.
Fundamentals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
First, though, some context: what is the CBD? Its origins can be traced to an acknowledgement in the late 1980s and early 1990s that measures to protect biodiversity were disjointed and insufficient. This spurred efforts to establish a more comprehensive biodiversity framework for the world: the CBD. It opened for signatures at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, or Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992; entered into force in 1993; and had its first COP in the Bahamas in 1994. It operates alongside, and its themes are often highly intertwined with, its sister Rio Conventions: the better-known United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the far lesser-known United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Promisingly, the CBD has been signed and ratified by almost every single country in the world (bar, most notably, the USA, although they still exert influence).
The CBD landscape has developed over time. Focussed protocols have been adopted to address issues of particular concern, like the Cartagena Protocol on the protection of biodiversity from genetically modified organisms (adopted: 2000) and the Nagoya Protocol on the use of genetic information and the associated benefit sharing (adopted: 2010). Moreover, further frameworks have been agreed to guide and facilitate action: the strategic plans for biodiversity for 2002-2010 (adopted: 2002) and 2011-2020 (adopted: 2010), and, most relevantly, the GBF with its 2030 targets and 2050 goals (adopted: 2022).
Landmark outcome from CBD COP15 (2022): the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
The GBF presents an ambitious pathway for halting and reversing biodiversity loss. It contains four bold goals for 2050, which span ecosystem integrity and resilience, ecosystem services, benefit sharing, and implementation, and 23 more specific targets for 2030. The targets range from the effective protection of 30% of lands, waters, and seas (30×30) and restoration of 30% of degraded ecosystems to ensuring the effective involvement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
The more finance-explicit targets include reducing subsidies that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year, and mobilising at least $200 billion per year for biodiversity conservation and restoration, including by developed countries increasing their contributions and by all countries pursuing and stimulating innovative financial schemes. Further, member countries at COP15 agreed to a multilateral mechanism for benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, which could eventually lead to noteworthy financial flows towards biodiversity-rich areas.
There is cause to celebrate the GBF’s ambitions; but, importantly, the emphasis now rests on delivery.
Key negotiation topics for CBD COP16 (2024)
The scene is certainly set for COP16: amidst one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, COP16 is the first opportunity to collectively assess progress on the GBF since its adoption. It is a chance to review how the GBF has (or has not) been transformed into actionable strategies, and how to move forward. The keyword is implementation. Such strategies should be characterised by the likes of solid monitoring and accountability mechanisms, effective involvement of IPLCs, and mobilisation of sufficient financial resources, as well as, ideally, measures to mainstream biodiversity across economies.
Generally, though, countries appear off track for the GBF targets. At the time of writing, a month out from COP16, only 16 member countries have submitted GBF-aligned National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). This is significant because NBSAPs are central to the country-level implementation of the CBD; that is, a country’s NBSAP should detail how it plans to achieve CBD aims, which, at present, are the GBF targets. Some might submit a suitable NBSAP closer to the time, or at the COP itself, but the current paucity of GBF-aligned NBSAPs is concerning. Hence, the production (or lack thereof) of ambitious and robust GBF-aligned strategies by member countries promises to be a noteworthy topic.
Further themes that are likely to be prominent at COP16 include resource mobilisation and inclusivity. After all, mobilising finance for biodiversity is a key component of the GBF, and is sorely needed area of improvement – namely, to address the global biodiversity finance gap of over $700 billion each year. Building on COP15, discussions about resource mobilisation could cover developed country contributions, innovative financial schemes, and the recently agreed benefit-sharing mechanism for DSI. Similarly, inclusivity is poised to be an important theme, particularly in terms of the effective and duly financed involvement of IPLCs. The roles of IPLCs are referenced in several parts of the GBF, in recognition of how IPLCs make valuable contributions towards biodiversity goals across the world but in many cases they face issues that threaten their safety and rights. Indeed, Colombia is suitable host for these themes, with its pursuit of innovative biodiversity finance schemes (e.g., biodiversity credits, biodiversity bonds), and in light of the vital role of IPLC’s in its conservation amid the pertinent risks and challenges they face.
COP16 represents an important step in transforming agreed targets and goals into actionable strategies, but much needs to be delivered to be on track for the GBF targets. It is therefore imperative that member countries engage meaningfully and establish robust strategies for conserving and restoring biodiversity.
