The world gathers in Cali for an atypical COP: commitments, communities and financial resources will be the key

This Monday, COP16 begins in Cali, the biodiversity summit where the planet meets to try to protect and restore the nature that humans have been degrading for years. The meeting will have an atypical edition in the country.

Conferences of the Parties (COP) are usually diplomatic and bureaucratic events, but in Colombia they have managed to reach the people, to the point that during its realization, between October 21 and November 1, not only will take place the traditional diplomatic discussion sessions with the participation of delegates from the more than 190 countries that are part of the conference, but also the citizens and thousands of guests who will be in Cali will enjoy a rich academic and cultural agenda, unusual for a COP on biodiversity.

More than 18,000 people are expected to arrive in the capital of Valle del Cauca during the two weeks of the summit, accredited to take part in the discussions in the Blue Zone. Among them are not only delegates, experts, technicians, NGO , journalists and others, but also high dignitaries such as UN Secretary General António Guterres, at least 10 heads of state, more than 100 environment ministers and more than 140 delegations, all record numbers for a meeting of this kind.

The mood in the region and among its citizens is positive. According to a survey conducted between August and October by the National Consultation Center, the Ministry of the Environment, COP16 and EL TIEMPO, awareness of the Summit among Colombians rose from 33% to 53% in just two months. This means that this meeting, which usually receives little media attention, managed to attract the attention of at least five out of ten Colombians.

In addition, according to the same survey, Colombians are increasingly interested in protecting biodiversity, with nine out of ten saying they are willing to take action to protect nature. This last point, according to Minister Susana Muhamad, may be the greatest legacy the summit will leave the country.

(Lea también: ‘En este país hemos perdido 23 millones de hectáreas de ecosistemas y allí es donde el clima está generando desastres’: Ministra de Ambiente Susana Muhamad)

But beyond the social benefits, the COP is also the place where the fate of global biodiversity, a fundamental factor for human survival that has been neglected for years, will be decided.

Today, the lack of biodiversity is reflected in the effects of natural disasters and climate emergencies around the world. The water shortage in Bogotá, the drought in the Amazon and the flooding in Cali are some clear examples of how the destruction of forests, the endangerment of thousands of species and the contamination of water sources can lead to a crisis that threatens society.

In this sense, the COP will have several focal points among the discussions of the ministers and delegates arriving in the country. The first is commitments. At the last summit, the so-called Kunming-Montreal Global Framework agreed on 23 targets to protect biodiversity, such as restoring 30% of all degraded ecosystems or mobilizing 200 billion dollars (USD) annually for biodiversity from all sources, including 30 billion in international funding.

Achieving these goals, however, will require commitments and actions set out in National Biodiversity Action Plans (NBSAPs). These documents were expected to be presented at this COP, but now the mood is not so optimistic. So far, only 31 countries have made their formal presentations, and Colombia, the host country, will present its own on Monday, the day the summit begins, in which the country will, for example, commit to restoring 5 million hectares of degraded forest by 2030, a very ambitious goal since the previous government had proposed only one million hectares. In general, however, Colombia will not see a large number of countries presenting their NBSAPs.

Jimena Nieto, former head of the International Affairs Office of the Ministry of the Environment, emphasizes that although there are many other issues at stake at the summit, such as the creation of the subsidiary body for indigenous peoples and local communities and the linking of the COP on Biodiversity with the COP on Climate Change, the action plans are "sad news and leave the country with the option that if the expected amount is not presented (as is already expected), Colombia can lead a global call for nations to make ambitious but achievable commitments over the next two years.

"Faced with the sad news of the few updated NBSAPs, it is necessary to raise the level of ambition of governments so that they all present them at COP17, when Minister Muhamad hands over the presidency," emphasizes the expert, who has been part of the delegations that have represented Colombia in multilateral negotiations on biodiversity, climate change, ozone, hazardous waste, chemicals and mercury.

(Lea también: La naturaleza está desapareciendo en Latinoamérica: poblaciones de animales salvajes han disminuido en promedio un 95 % entre 1970 y 2020; ¿qué implica?)

In addition, the other major point of discussion at COP16 will be resources: how, how much and by whom. At COP15, the world set two targets: to mobilize $200 billion annually, but more importantly to reduce harmful subsidies by at least $500 billion annually and to increase positive incentives for biodiversity. This last point is crucial because these subsidies are found in key sectors of the economy and encourage, for example, overfishing, deforestation in the Amazon or the Congo, and even mining in key ecosystems.

In this sense, the climate justice coordinator of the NGO Ambiente y Sociedad, Andrea Prieto, assures that COP16 is a crucial moment to translate global commitments into concrete actions, and one place where this progress will be reflected is in financing.

"There will be an important focus on mobilizing financial resources and creating enabling conditions for conservation policies. Also in recognizing the rights and active participation of ethnic and local communities, and eliminating economic incentives that are harmful to nature," says Prieto. However, the enabling environment for resource mobilization is still not clear, and this is usually one of the factors that most delays reaching a final agreement at these summits.

(Lea también: ‘La COP16 es una gran oportunidad para destacar la belleza natural de Colombia ante la comunidad internacional y el mundo’: Embajador de Reino Unido en Colombia)

Finally, in Colombia, another key point will be the local communities and indigenous peoples who will arrive at the Summit in search of representation and resources, with the of the government, which has already expressed its interest in having them participate more actively in the biodiversity COPs. In this sense, what will be sought in Colombia is to work around Article 8J of the Convention, where tasks have been prioritized with emphasis on the transmission, recovery and promotion of traditional knowledge, including indigenous languages, and direct access to finance for indigenous peoples and local communities for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

Mateo Estrada, Environment and Climate Change Advisor for the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (Opiac), explains that what is being sought is greater representation and resources for the communities that protect nature the most. "The importance of COP16 for Colombian indigenous communities and the global indigenous movement lies in the fact that some decisions are being worked on regarding the materialization of rights (...) In addition, indigenous peoples need funding to work in an integral way between governments, indigenous peoples and civil society," stresses Estrada.

Achieving these three points would make for a successful summit on global biodiversity. There is optimism and enthusiasm at the COP in Colombia, experts say, but achieving the goals at the diplomatic level may be complex. According to Claudia Vásquez, program director for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Colombia, there is a "collective sense, without selfishness and with real commitment" from countries at this summit.

EDWIN CAICEDO

Environment and health journalist

@CaicedoUcros