David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention
The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity met on 15 December and accepted Colombia’s offer to host the next United Nations Biodiversity Conference, to be held from 21 October to 1 November 2024.
The Conference encompasses the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), the Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. It will include a high-level ministerial segment.
In announcing Colombia’s offer, H. E. Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, said “This is going to be a great opportunity for one of the most biodiverse nations in the world. This event sends a message from Latin America to the world about the importance of climate action and the protection of life. It highlights the commitment of Colombia, of President Gustavo Petro and the entire country, to preserve our planet.”
David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention, said “The Secretariat is delighted to have the Government of Colombia as host of COP 16. Colombia is home to tremendous biodiversity, is an inspiring example of how to engage with indigenous peoples and local communities and is at the forefront of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.”
COP 16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP 15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.
H. E. Minister Huang Runqiu, the COP 15 President and Minister of Ecology and Environment of the Peoples’ Republic of China said, “As COP 15 President, I welcome the offer from Colombia to host COP 16. We look forward to working with them to continue the momentum towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and to ensure that we accelerate our movement from agreement to action towards the 2050 vision of the Convention.”
At COP 16, governments will be tasked with reviewing the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Parties to the Convention are expected to show the alignment of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the Framework. COP 16 will further develop the monitoring framework and advance resource mobilization for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Among other tasks, COP 16 is also due to finalize and operationalize the multilateral mechanism on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.
Opened for signature in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and entering into force in December 1993, the CBD is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.
With 196 Parties, the CBD has near universal participation among countries. The CBD seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders including indigenous peoples and local communities, youth, women, NGOs, sub-national actors, and the business community.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15). This historic Framework supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, builds on the Convention’s previous Strategic Plans, and adopts a human-rights approach. It sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Among the Framework’s key elements are 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.
The Nagoya Protocol entered into force on 12 October 2014. It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The Nagoya Protocol also covers traditional knowledge (TK) associated with genetic resources. More information on the Nagoya Protocol and traditional knowledge can be found on the Traditional Knowledge Programme of Work webpage.
The Cartagena Protocol entered into force on 11 September 2003. is an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living-modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking into account risks to human health.
