La COP16, held in Cali, Colombia, between October 21 and November 1, 2024, was a significant event for biodiversity conservation. Although important progress was made, the Lack of agreement on key issues such as financing He left the summit with a bittersweet taste and great challenges ahead.
The event brought together more than 20.000 delegates from nearly 200 countries in Colombia's third largest city. The agenda focused on the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a landmark agreement adopted in 2022 that aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. However, after several days of intense negotiations, many key issues remained unresolved.
What was achieved at COP16 in Cali?
One of the most notable achievements of COP16 was the creation of the Cali Fund, a mechanism designed to redistribute the benefits obtained from the use of digital sequences of genetic resources (DSI). Companies in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and biotechnology will be able to contribute a percentage of their profits or income to the fund.
El 50% of the funds raised will go to local and indigenous communities, who have historically been the guardians of biodiversity. Although some consider the agreement an important step, others see it as insufficient, since business participation will be voluntary. Oscar Soria, from the NGO Common Initiative, stressed that the effectiveness of the fund will depend largely on the willingness of companies to contribute.
Recognition of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples
Another major advance was the inclusion of a Permanent subsidiary body for indigenous peoples and local communities within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). For the first time, these communities will have a formal advisory space within the international biodiversity negotiations, ensuring active participation in decision-making.
Likewise, the recognition of the role of the Afro-descendants in biodiversity conservation This was another milestone. Although this proposal met with initial resistance from African countries and the European Union, it was finally approved thanks to the leadership of Colombia and Brazil.
The big obstacle: financing
Despite progress, COP16 was marred by a lack of consensus on the issue of financing. One of the key objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework was to mobilize $20.000 billion annually by 2025 y 30.000 million until 2030, aimed at supporting developing countries in their efforts to protect biodiversity. However, negotiations stalled and were eventually suspended due to a lack of quorum at the plenary session on 2 November.
Most African and Latin American countries have called for the creation of a specific biodiversity fund, independent of the current Global Environment Facility (GEF), something that the European Union has flatly rejected. The stalemate in the talks has left the adoption of a clear strategy to mobilise the necessary resources in suspense.
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the CBD, stressed at the start of the conference that the success of COP16 depended largely on the ability to mobilise these resources. However, following the suspension, many organisations such as Greenpeace described the outcome as a “failure”, while WWF expressed concern about the future of biodiversity targets if funding gaps are not closed.
Global goals at risk
One of the main problems that COP16 faced was that Only 44 out of 196 countries submitted their complete national biodiversity plans, an insufficient number to meet the goals set for 2022. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calls on countries to protect 30% of the world's ecosystems by 2030, but with so few national action plans in place, the goal seems increasingly difficult to achieve.
The delay in the presentation of the plans, as well as the lack of a financing agreement, puts the achievement of conservation goals at risk, which could be a serious blow to global efforts to curb biodiversity loss.
The positive: unprecedented participation and the COP of the people
Although the lack of financing agreements was a setback, COP16 was baptized by Susana Muhamad, president of the summit and Minister of Environment of Colombia, as the “COP of the people”Civil society participation was prominent and became a real magnet for the event with the so-called Green Zone, a space where citizens, small businesses, NGOs and local communities could share their proposals and initiatives.
Minister Muhamad stressed the importance of uniting the voices of indigenous peoples, local communities and young people, who play a key role in the fight to save biodiversity. According to government figures, the Green Zone attracted more than 800.000 people during the two-week event, demonstrating the growing global concern for environmental protection.
Next steps towards COP17
With COP16 suspended, discussions on funding are expected to resume in a Interim meeting in Bangkok ahead of COP17, which will be held in Armenia in 2026. Negotiations will need to focus on how to mobilise the resources needed to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework and how to ensure that more countries submit their national action plans.
The outcome of these negotiations will be crucial to maintaining hope of meeting global biodiversity targets before it is too late. With less than six years to achieve the 2030 objectives, time is running out and the decisions taken at the upcoming meetings will determine the future of the planet's biodiversity.
Without a doubt, COP16 in Cali has been a summit full of ups and downs, with important advances but also great challenges. While the creation of the Cali Fund and the recognition of local communities are significant advances, the lack of funding and delays in the presentation of national biodiversity plans leave many of the hopes placed on this summit up in the air.