There was limited progress at the COP16 Convention on Biological Diversity continues in Colombia, which aimed to agree on how to halt nature decline by 2030.
According to the BBC, scientists say there has been an alarming lack of progress in saving nature as the summit, with experts saying the scale of political ambition has not risen to the challenge of reducing the destruction of nature that costs the economy billions.
Countries were meant to come to the table with a detailed plan on how they intended to meet biodiversity targets at home, but most missed the deadline. There is also a new policy tracker suggesting that only 33% of nature-related policies published (worldwide) since the Paris Agreement have allocated budgets.
Photo credit: Earth Negotiations Bulletin, International Institute for Sustainable Development
The main achievements from COP16 were
- An agreement was reached that companies profiting from nature’s genetic data should pay towards its protection through a global fund
- The fund, to be known as the Cali fund after the COP16 host city, will be financed with payments from companies who make use of genetic information from living things
- The role of Indigenous Peoples as vital stewards of nature was officially recognised through the setting up of a permanent body to represent their interests
There was also increasing recognition that climate change and nature collapse are two sides of the same coin. (The Guardian)
Launched at COP16, the Protected Planet Report 2024 provides the first official review of global progress towards the commitment to protect and conserve 30 per cent of the Earth’s lands and waters by 2030.
The Science Based Targets Network announced the first set of companies publicly adopting science-based targets for nature. These initial companies will publicly disclose specific targets, beginning with freshwater and land, for addressing key drivers of nature loss within the ecosystems they and their suppliers operate.
There is a useful summary of what happened at COP16 from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership , who have also launched a new nature content hub and campaign to help drive the integration of nature “into the fabric of our economic system”.