The Embassy of Colombia in Belgium, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) organized a conversation on the current state of biodiversity, priorities and expected results of the UN Conference of Parties (COP 16) on Biodiversity, set to take place in Cali, Colombia, during 21 October - 1 November.

"The COP16 aims to set the pathway to mobilize globally towards a common purpose, to respect and protect all life on earth, to regain our connection with our planet, and make Peace with Nature," said Camila Polo Florez, Charge d’Affaires, Mission of Colombia to the EU.

COP16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) where governments will review the progress made to implement GBF as well as assess alignment of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the GBF.

“We are at a pivotal moment in redefining the relationship between nature and development. As the demands for food, water, and resources grow, it's crucial to integrate biodiversity into the broader development agenda. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is our roadmap to stop the loss of biodiversity. We need to raise global ambition, increase investments, and take coordinated action to protect the planet,” said Camilla Brückner, Representative of the UN System in the EU, Director of the UN/UNDP Office in Brussels.

The world’s population is projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, which puts immense strain on our ability to provide essential resources like food and water, and exacerbates risks such as mass displacements, economic upheavals, and conflict. Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum indicated the loss of biodiversity as one of three main risks for the global economy in the coming ten years, alongside a rise in extreme weather events and critical changes in the earth’s systems.

“It is time to make peace with nature. With the Global Biodiversity Framework in place, it is now the opportunity to halt biodiversity loss and continue our path in harmony with nature. The EU will work hard on implementation of the set targets and keep its commitment to double external financing for biodiversity. The European Commission will host one of the centres for technical and scientific cooperation on biodiversity. Let’s make COP16 the moment to rebuild and accelerate the momentum for the full and swift implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework,” said Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of the Environment Department of the European Commission.

The panellists underlined that private investments into nature are vital. The Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures plays a key role in helping private organizations understand both the positive and negative impacts they may have on nature, as well as the nature-related risks they face. Already, over 400 organizations have signed up to this framework.

They also stressed that local communities, including indigenous groups, need to be at the forefront of international and local conservation agendas, as they are commonly the main protectors of nature on the ground.

"Peace with nature calls us and provokes us to feel differently to act differently, to approach COP16 from another logic, such as a more empathetic economy, respect for common interests and to align ourselves again with the language of nature, where many of the answers to the solution of challenges such as maintaining life, itself are," said Josefina Klinger, Afro-Colombian woman and community leader from Chocó, Colombia.

“Making peace with nature is essential - it needs a whole of society's effort and nature has for too long been the forgotten element in our decision making, the invisible but essential part of the equation. We need to account for nature and get the monitoring and reporting frameworks aligned with the new level of ambition,” said Bruno Pozzi, Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division of UNEP.

For more information, please visit: https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2024