Learning and Way forward from COP 16 Cali Summit 2024: Putting Nature First

BACKGROUND

As the curtains for the COP 16, Cali, Colombia culminated on 1st November 2024, with the Summit starting from 21st October to 1st November 2024, there is a lot to be addressed from the deliberations. The theme for this year's biodiversity summit was "Peace With Nature". From the landmark launch of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) which was a strategic plan to guide biodiversity action and policy, and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss two years back adopted as a resounding resolution for implementation in 2023, the avenues are writ open for leveraging huge market based preposition to avail perceived monetary benefits from conservation efforts. The framework supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and builds on the Convention’s previous Strategic Plans, and sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050 as per the CBD (Convention on Biodiversity). Among the framework’s key elements for achieving are 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030. The GBF was being upscaled as a key element towards building national biodiversity strategies and plans during the course of the summit. The summit had the flavour of conservation, indigenous people and rights and their role in conservation, methodological assessment and tools for implementation of biodiversity conservation best practices and relevance of capacity building and knowledge transfer in strengthening conservation efforts.

SESSION KNOW HOW'S

COP 16, Cali Summit marked its resounding opening on 21st October 2024 joined by the best of conservationists, practitioners, international scientific bodies and councils, standards setters and preparers, ecologists, civil societies,academicians, NGO groups, observer parties to the Conference of Parties and UNFCCC, IUCN leadership and UNEP thought leaders. The summit included the business as usual plenary sessions and the working group I and II meetings to draft process and procedures and for passing it as resolution for implementation drawing consensus from the working group members. The most sought after plenary sessions which provided the edge to leverage consensus on conservation policies and tools amongst the stakeholders were as follows:

• Programme of work on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity related to indigenous peoples and local communities to 2030.

Institutional arrangements for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the work undertaken under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

• Role of people of African descent, comprising [collectives] embodying traditional lifestyles in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

• Upscaling progress in efforts and work on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas.

• Mainstreaming of biodiversity within and across sectors.

• Biodiversity and health benefits- Good Health and wellbeing.

• Matters related to the work programme of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

• Scientific and technical needs to support the implementation of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

• Capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer

• The role of languages in the intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices

• Conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biodiversity and ofisland biodiversity.

• Liability and redress (Article 14, paragraph 2)

• Methodological Assessment Report on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and their implications for the work undertaken under the Convention.

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• mplementation: progress in national target setting and updating of national biodiversity strategies and action plans.

Monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Cooperation with other conventions and international organizations.

Mechanisms for planning, monitoring, reporting and review, including the global review of collective progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to be conducted at the seventeenth and nineteenth meetings of the Conference of the Parties. Other than the intended plenary sessions, the working group I and II meetings were deliberated to draft process, procedures and implementation modalities and accordingly resolution were passed paving way for the next year COP 17 plan of action and strategies to act eking lessons from the agenda and various targets set across for the convention. Nagoya protocol, Aichi targets and biosafety also were the noteworthy discussions deliberated for action plan setting.

LEARNING AND WAY FORWARD

COP 16 takeaway learning are to place Nature First, as it is the only hostile habitat for sustenance and survivability. Peace, justice and institutions are the strong hold for protecting biodiversity as well as indigenous peoples gifts and the traditional knowledge they uphold for biodiversity conservation, restoration and management. The theme very rightly as peace with nature, provides each of the geographies across the globe and its people to live in harmony or symbiosis so as to maintain homeostasis of our fragile ecosystems and not endanger the planet and its species. COP 17 next year shall be more on getting the national strategies and plan for biodiversity matching with countries global biodiversity targets commitments towards 2030 and 2050. It will be more straightforward in tracking the monitoring and restoration efforts and how equity and equality enabled capacity building shall provide penetrative and tangible benefits.

Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms ! Each species is unique in itself, respect cohesion, symbiosis and embrace strategic use of resources is the way forward for each one of us.