Biodiversity COP16 concludes with several landmark EU-championed outcomes with some implementation decisions requiring further discussions
On Saturday, COP16 in Cali, Colombia, ended achieving important outcomes that the EU, acting in unity with all Member States, played a critical role in shaping.
Among these, thanks to a newly established Cali Fund, companies benefiting from sequencing genetic resources, for example to develop new medicines, will be able to share some of the proceeds with biodiverse countries of origin, with half of the fund allocated to indigenous and local communities. A new programme of work on indigenous people and local communities was established, recognising their key role as biodiversity custodians, also in the EU. Other key decisions include an action plan for biodiversity and health; a decision on integrating UN-level climate action and biodiversity efforts; and procedures to describe ecologically and biologically significant marine areas, which will be essential for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty and for protecting 30% of ocean areas by 2030.
The conference confirmed the significant momentum on implementation of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with 44 countries submitting revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans and 119 Parties uploading their national targets in the online reporting tool, including the European Union. These will be the basis for first national reports due in 2026.
Progress was achieved on decisions needed to make fully operational the Global Biodiversity Framework, including on its monitoring framework and the procedures for the Global Review of Implementation in 2026 and 2030. However, these decisions could not be finalised as the COP ran out of time to complete discussions on addressing the biodiversity financing gap. Since COP15 had decided that a global dedicated financial instrument is to be considered after 2030, it was premature to agree to calls of some countries to establish a new fund, without any clarity on its funding and role. These discussions will now continue in inter-sessional meetings.
The EU showed leadership through clear policies and targets adopted domestically; reliable delivery on global financial support on the way to the commitment to double external biodiversity financing to €7 billion; and by fostering discussions on ‘nature credits’.