The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), also known as the United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP16, will be held from October 21 to November 1 in Cali, the capital of the mega bio-diverse Cauca, in Colombia.

The CBD 2024 theme ‘Peace with Nature’ resonates with participants as they seek policy pathways to accelerate change and set the world community on a journey to living in harmony with nature.

Established in 1993, the CBD is an international treaty for the conservation of bio-diversity, the sustainable use of the components of bio-diversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.

Earlier in the year, from August 12 to 16, over 300 delegates and negotiators convened in Montreal, Canada, to advance the historic 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) agreement. Under this framework, 196 CBD member states agreed to fairly and equitably share the multi-trillion-dollar annual revenues and other benefits derived from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources, including the DNA of plants, animals and micro-organisms.

According to CBD Executive Secretary, Astrid Schomaker, the framework is a game-changer that will provide a multi-dimensional solution and policy guidance on the sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, and signal that environmental multi-lateralism can deliver for both people and nature.

“It will also address the crucial aspects of equity, fairness and social justice, bolster capacity-building, development and technology transfer, and mobilise new streams of bio-diversity finance,” she added.

The Cali conference will see the largest ‘Green Zone’ in the history of the CBD involving tens of thousands of participants from 30 countries in events, debates, workshops and cultural performances. Inter-governmental negotiations will take place in the ‘Blue Zone’ space under the auspices of the UN with 12 Heads of State and Government expected.

Public participation and engagement in the ‘Blue Zone’, will focus on children and the youth, the generations with the highest stake and most threatened by the triple global challenges of climate change, bio-diversity loss and pollution.

Urgent need

A Children and Youth Summit will host 17 pavilions held by governments and inter-governmental organisations, a capacity-building and development forum and a technology and innovation expo. There will also be forums for parliamentarians, indigenous peoples and local communities, women, businesses, local authorities, the science community and other stakeholders.

Political leaders, civil society, business community and all the stakeholders increasingly recognise the urgent need to safeguard life on earth with increased action nationally, regionally and globally.

“Let us all look back in 2050 noting that we saved life for future generations, plants and animals,” Schomaker said.

The current global response to the magnitude of biodiversity loss is insufficient. Ahead of the Cali conference, a new country tracker has revealed that too few countries are on track to restore nature by 2030.

A review of countries’ National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) by the World-Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows that the majority of countries are not fully honouring their commitments to halt and reverse bio-diversity loss by 2030, as per the KMGBF.

In the first step to implementing the landmark agreement, countries pledged to submit revised national action plans by the CBD in Colombia this year. Only 20 revised NBSAPs and 60 revised national targets have been published.

“We know change isn’t easy and countries are facing challenges such as a lack of funding, insufficient data and political instability, but there is a worrying gap between what was promised in Montreal, and plans put in place so far to reverse the loss of nature by 2030,” WWF’s Head of Global Advocacy, Bernadette Fischler Hooper, noted, adding that such strategies are a country’s blueprint for restoring nature and building better futures.

Extinction threat

The concerns arise after a landmark report last year revealed that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history – and the rate of species’ extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report reveals that more than one million species, both flora and fauna, face the threat of extinction.

“We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide,” said former IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson.

He however noted that the report also shows it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now.

The IPBES Global Assessment builds on the landmark Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005 and introduces innovative ways of evaluating evidence.

Compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries over three years, with inputs from another 310 contributing authors, the report assessed changes over the past five decades, providing a comprehensive picture of the relationship between economic development pathways and their impacts on nature. It also offered a range of possible scenarios.