The climate conference in Baku was preceded by the 16th Conference of the Parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Cali, which has been described as a disappointment. COP16 took place from October 21 to November 1, 2024, and ended with several negotiators walking out, halting the meeting. The Minister of the Environment of Finland, Kai Mykkänen, represented Finland at the meeting. He suggested that the progress made in Cali outweighed the setbacks, considering the ambitious goals set for the meeting.
Two of the four major issues were agreed on in Cali. However, the two most important ones remained unresolved.
The good news first: the so-called “Cali Fund” was approved at the meeting, and an official body for indigenous peoples was established. The Sami people are also represented in this group. The voices of the indigenous people are important in nature conferences, as a large part of the remaining natural areas are inhabited by indigenous people.
The Cali Fund is a new fund, planned to be financed by private entities that have financially benefited from natural genetic resources. These entities include large companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries. The funds are to be directed to the needs of indigenous people and local communities.
Funding is the main issue between the global south and north
In the previous meeting, COP15, the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework was agreed on. Cali was supposed to provide important follow-up regarding the implementation of the framework. Still, key issues regarding the framework remain unsolved.
According to the previously agreed framework, funding from developed countries to the global south is aimed at $20 billion a year by 2025 and $30 billion a year by 2030 to solve global biodiversity loss. Including that, a total of $200 billion a year was targeted to stop biodiversity loss by 2030 – this includes both public and private funding from the member countries.
Countries in the global south emphasized the establishment of a new fund and a new strategy to achieve these goals. Which entities should decide on the allocation of the funds was one of the many subjects of dispute. Many developed countries also disagreed on the need for a new fund. Ultimately, no agreement was reached on the funding.
Common indicators are needed to monitor the state of nature globally
Another important goal for the meeting was the creation of a monitoring framework aka “rulebook”. The agreement on it fell into the same pit as the funding dispute. According to the views of the countries in the global south, agreement on the rulebook was linked to the funds.
The monitoring framework was to be applied to users, i.e., countries, at different levels of development or technical capacity. Indicators used to measure biodiversity have been divided into universal and case-specific ones. There are four categories for universal indicators, three of which indicate the state of ecosystems and one the state of species. Of the case-specific indicators, four indicate the state of ecosystems and one the state of species. For each indicator, the user could choose the level (Entry Level, Standard, Advanced), corresponding to the user’s technological development or capacity.
Among hundreds of options, the proposed indicators were the best research-based, the most applicable, and the most used indicators. These include the Red List Index of Ecosystems assessment method, which has also been used in Finland’s habitat threat assessment. Other methods included the Biodiversity Habitat Index (BHI), the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric, and many assessment methods and indices based on open remote sensing data.
The rulebook is important for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the measures taken, however, no agreement was reached in Cali.
More negotiations before the next COP
Major unresolved questions related to financing and the rule book are expected to be addressed in further negotiations in early 2025. The goal is to reach agreements before the next Conference of the Parties, which will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2026.
Additional information: Sanni Rantanen, sanni.rantanen(a)bioenergia.fi, +35845 78779744
Photo: United Nations Biodiversity Conference