22 October 2024 – The United Nations’ COP16 conference in Colombia is a pivotal opportunity for leaders to set a bold pathway towards a nature-positive future. With a CISL delegation attending COP16 to shift the dial on nature, our COP16 briefing urges leaders to move from greater transparency and commitment to action from governments, business and finance.
Read the briefing
About
Climate change and nature loss pose the greatest risk to humanity, according to the WEF's 2024 Global Risks Report. A partial collapse of ecosystem services could reduce global GDP by US$2.7 trillion by 2030.
Our planet is undergoing its sixth great mass extinction and left unchecked, these intertwined crises’ greatest toll will be on human life itself, with a direct cost to health estimated to be US$2–4 billion per year by 2030. The loss of nature is an existential threat for over a quarter of the global population, which depends on its resources for their livelihood.
The human, economic and commercial consequences unfolding all around us show that we are failing to address this crisis. This year an unprecedented number of heat records have been broken, drought in South Africa has affected 68 million people, and thousands of wildfires threatened the collapse of the Amazon rainforest.
In 2022 the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) ended with a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted by 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems and protect indigenous rights. The plan includes concrete targets to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30 per cent of the planet and 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030. It also contains targets to increase finance to developing countries.
There are some positive signals of change since COP15, but much more needs to be done to turn the tide on nature loss.
Our 'asks'
In our COP16 Briefing, we’re asking leaders to take four key actions to turn the dial on the nature crisis:
- Shift the narrative on nature
- Embed nature in economic, policy and commercial decision-making
- Enable better-informed and collaborative decision-making on the future of places – putting community and people at the centre
- Drive innovation in, and transformation of, critical sectors and supply chains
CISL's Restoring Nature campaign is activating leadership to reshape our economies and rebuild markets so they properly value, respect, protect and restore nature.
