UN nature summit agrees on body for Indigenous representation
By AFP
November 2, 2024
Representatives of Indigenous peoples broke out in cheers and chants as 196 countries agreed on a 'subsidiary body' dedicated to Indigenous representation - Copyright AFP JOAQUIN SARMIENTO
The world’s biggest nature protection conference agreed in Cali, Colombia on Friday to create a permanent body to represent the interests of Indigenous people under the UN’s biodiversity convention.
Representatives of Indigenous peoples, many in traditional dress and headgear, broke out in cheers and chants as 196 countries agreed on a “subsidiary body” dedicated to “matters of relevance to Indigenous peoples and local communities.”
It was the first major breakthrough for the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the UN’s Convention on Biodiversity, which opened in Cali nearly two weeks ago and went deep into extra time Friday as delegates clashed on ways to raise funding for plans to preserve nature.
“This is an unprecedented moment in the history of multilateral agreements on the environment,” an overjoyed Camila Romero, an Indigenous representative from Chile, told delegates after the adoption at the summit, themed “Peace with Nature.”
“Parties have recognized the constant need for our full and effective participation, our knowledge and innovations, technology and traditional practices,” she added.
Delegates also agreed on a specific role for Afro-descendent communities in the new subsidiary body, though a number of details have yet to be ironed out.
Last-ditch effort to solve funding deadlock at nature-saving summit
By AFP
November 1, 2024
COP16 president Susana Muhamad has proposed several draft texts in a bid to end the stalemate - Copyright AFP/File AIZAR RALDES
Mariëtte le Roux and Benjamin Legendre
Negotiators at the world’s biggest nature conservation conference knuckled down in Cali, Colombia on Friday for a last-ditch effort to break a deadlock on funding for efforts to “halt and reverse” species loss.
The Colombian presidency of the summit, which opened on October 21 and was programmed to run until Friday, proposed a raft of late-night draft texts on possible ways out of the stalemate.
With some 23,000 registered delegates, the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity is the biggest-ever meeting of its kind.
It is a follow-up to an agreement reached two years ago in Canada, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which called for $200 billion per year to be made available to protect biodiversity by 2030.
Under the agreement, this was to include $20 billion per year going from rich to poor nations by 2025, and $30 billion by 2030.
The targets included placing 30 percent of land and sea areas under protection and 30 percent of degraded ecosystems under restoration, while reducing pollution and phasing out agricultural and other subsidies harmful to nature.
COP16 was tasked with assessing, and accelerating, progress.
But negotiations on funding have failed to advance, observers and delegates say, even as new research presented this week showed that more than a quarter of assessed plants and animals are now at risk of extinction.
Amid murmurs that the talks may drag into an extra day, the COP16 presidency proposed a compromise that would see talks continue after the summit — and until the next one in Armenia in 2026 — to find a “comprehensive financial solution to close the finance biodiversity gap.”
Such talks would also assess the viability of creating a new, dedicated biodiversity fund — a key demand from developing countries who say they are not represented in existing mechanisms, which are also too onerous.
– ‘Cali Fund’ –
Another point of contention at the summit is on how best to share the profits of digitally sequenced genetic data taken from animals and plants with the communities they come from.
Such data, much of it from species found in poor countries, is notably used in medicines and cosmetics that can make their developers billions.
COP15 in Montreal had agreed on the creation of a “multilateral mechanism” for sharing the benefits of digitally sequenced genetic information — abbreviated as DSI — “including a global fund.”
But negotiators still need to resolve such basic questions as who pays, how much, into which fund, and to whom the money should go.
In a draft text for negotiators, the COP16 presidency proposed creating a new “Cali Fund” for the equitable sharing of DSI benefits.
Negotiators also remain stuck on the nature of a mechanism for monitoring progress toward the UN goals.
– ‘Everyone has to cede’ –
On Thursday, COP16 president Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister, said the negotiations were “very complex,” with “many interests, many parties… and that means everyone has to cede something.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who stopped over in Cali for two days this week with five heads of state and dozens of ministers to add impetus to the talks, reminded delegates that humanity has already altered three-quarters of Earth’s land surface and two-thirds of its waters.
Urging negotiators to “accelerate” progress, he warned: “The clock is ticking. The survival of our planet’s biodiversity — and our own survival — are on the line.”
Representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities held demonstrations at COP16 to press for more rights and protections as delegates inside wrangled over a proposal to create a permanent representative body for them under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
On this, too, no agreement has been reached after nearly two weeks of talks.
The meeting has been held amid a massive security deployment, following threats from a Colombian guerrilla group with a base near Cali.
By AFP
October 31, 2024
Developing countries have called for more money for biodiversity funding - Copyright AFP Michal Cizek
Mariëtte le Roux and Lina Vanegas
The world’s biggest nature conservation conference enters its final day in Colombia Friday with negotiators at odds over how best to fund plans to “halt and reverse” species loss.
Amid murmurs that the talks may drag into an extra day, summit president Susana Muhamad said Friday’s programmed closing session promised to be “heart-stopping” given the number of unresolved issues.
“It’s a very complex negotiation, with many interests, many parties… and that means everyone has to cede something,” Muhamad, who is Colombia’s environment minister, told reporters Thursday.
With some 23,000 registered delegates, the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which opened in Cali on October 21, is the biggest meeting of its kind ever.
The event is a follow-up to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed upon in Canada two years ago, where it was decided that $200 billion per year must be made available for biodiversity by 2030.
This must include $20 billion per year going from rich to poor nations to reach 23 UN targets to “halt and reverse” nature destruction by 2030, and by placing 30 percent of land and sea areas under protection.
COP16 was tasked with assessing, and ramping up, progress towards the targets.
But negotiations on funding mechanisms have failed to progress, observers and delegates say, even as new research this week showed more than a quarter of assessed plants and animals are at risk of extinction.
– ‘Chance to act’ –
Developing countries have called for more money.
They also want a brand new fund under the umbrella of the UN biodiversity convention, where all parties — rich and poor — would have representation in decision-making.
Rich countries insist they are on track to meet their funding targets, and many are opposed to yet another new fund.
European officials pointed Thursday to deadly flooding in Spain as a reminder of the harm that comes from humans’ destruction of nature, and urged delegates at the deadlocked talks to “act.”
European Commission envoy Florika Fink-Hooijer said the “catastrophe” in eastern and southern Spain this week, with at least 158 people dead and dozens still missing, highlights the link between biodiversity destruction and human-caused climate change.
Droughts and flooding worsened by global warming cause the loss of plant species, including trees which absorb planet-warming carbon, in a vicious cycle of human-wrought Earth destruction.
“If we act on biodiversity, we at least can buffer some of the climate impacts,” Fink-Hooijer, who is the European Commission director-general for environment, told reporters.
“At this COP we really have a chance to act,” she added.
– ‘Clock is ticking’ –
Another point of contention among delegates is on how best to share the profits of digitally sequenced genetic data taken from animals and plants with the communities they come from.
Such data, much of it from species found in poor countries, is notably used in medicines and cosmetics that make their developers billions.
COP15 had agreed on the creation of a “multilateral mechanism” for benefit-sharing of digital information, “including a global fund.”
But negotiators still need to resolve such basic questions as who pays, how much, into which fund, and to whom the money should go.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who stopped over in Cali for two days this week with five heads of state and dozens of government ministers to add impetus to the talks, reminded delegates Wednesday that humanity has already altered three-quarters of Earth’s land surface, and two-thirds of its waters.
Urging negotiators to “accelerate” progress, he warned: “The clock is ticking. The survival of our planet’s biodiversity — and our own survival — are on the line.”
Representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities held demonstrations at COP16 to press for more rights and protections, as delegates inside wrangled over a proposal to create a permanent representative body for them under the CBD.
On this, too, no final agreement has been reached.
COP16 parties voted Thursday to have Armenia as the host for their next summit in 2026.
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