4 November 2024 - COP16 ended with the meeting suspended with no overall agreement on a path forward on “resource mobilisation." What will be the ramifications for progress towards a sustainable future?
Dr Nina Seega, CISL’s Director of Sustainable Finance, was part of the delegation who attended the conference in Cali, Colombia. She reflected:
“COP16 is a critical step on our journey towards an equitable and nature-positive future. With our window of opportunity to bend the curve on the nature crisis closing fast, the focus in Cali has rightly been on moving from commitments to action and delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
“Negotiations have not been easy. The COP16 meeting was suspended due to lack of quorum and finished without a decision on resource mobilisation, which is a crucial element of delivering the Global Biodiversity Framework. This is regrettable, given the urgent need to ensure that finance is delivered to where it is needed most to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. We desperately need political leadership and the spirit of compromise to ensure resource mobilisation remains a priority and progress on it is achieved as soon as possible.
“This should not, however, detract from the multitude of successes during this COP. The pledges to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund have almost doubled to USD396mn. A new ‘Cali fund’ has been agreed to channel more money and other resources into conservation, especially in poor regions of the world. New funding has been announced for capacity building and conserving biodiversity in high seas, initiatives and collaborations have been set up to leverage private finance.
“It has also been positive to see 3,000 businesses at COP16 demonstrating their support for an ambitious and enabling policy framework to tackle the nature crisis. This support is crucial - business relies on nature throughout the value chain, and business leaders have an integral role to play in empowering policymakers towards a nature positive economy.
“The hard work now rests with national governments in setting clear plans to tackle biodiversity loss, as well as ensuring they meet the targets outlined in the GBF. So let us not falter and move forward on implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework at the speed and scale required.”