The Minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, HELE Pierre, is leading the Cameroonian delegation taking part in the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), which is being held in Cali (south-west Colombia) from 21 October to 1 November 2024.
COP16: the post-Kunming-Montreal assessment
COP16 is the first COP after the historic adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15 in 2022. It is an opportunity to assess the progress made by signatory countries since 2022 in implementing the 23 Targets and Objectives of the Agreement. An operational framework for monitoring this progress should also be put in place, so that there is a common mechanism for re-assessing the objectives and progress made by States towards the effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement.
As a reminder, this Agreement commits nearly 200 member countries of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to take resolute action to reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030 (in particular to protect 30% of all land, ocean and inland waters), to restore ecosystems, to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and to improve the equitable sharing of the benefits of biodiversity, in particular for indigenous peoples.
As part of the implementation of this Global Agreement, each member country was expected to submit revised national strategies and action plans aligned with the targets and objectives of the new Global Framework.
Since Kunming in Montreal, Cameroon has been involved in the process of revising its National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) through a series of national workshops. This has enabled it to finalise and submit its National Targets in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Goals and with NDS 30 being its domestic strategy. To date, only around thirty countries have submitted their NBSAPs to the CBD and 103 of them have defined and submitted national Targets. COP16 is giving countries more tools to help them align their national targets with the Global Goals so that everyone is on track.
COP16: the issue of finance
Financing remains a puzzle in this vast planning, particularly for developing countries, in a context where the Global Environment Facility is criticised for not being easily accessible to all.
The needs, estimated at several hundred billion dollars a year, are in stark contrast to the resources promised (20 billion dollars to be made available by developed countries from 2025). This situation is compounded by national and global economic and budgetary tensions that threaten the mobilisation of funds. COP 16 is working on innovative financial solutions, including an approach focused on the needs of developing countries. For example: consistent financing plans for NBSAPs and biodiversity-only funds. Negotiations on the resource mobilisation strategy and multilateral funds are moving towards a strategy based on impact and overall consistency.
Indigenous peoples, genetic resources and biosafety
COP16, ‘COP of the people’. The place of indigenous peoples in the fight to preserve biological diversity is at the core of the meeting. Moreover, the 5th Meeting of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) is being held during this COP16. This is also the case for the 11th Meeting on Biosafety (Biosecurity). The creation of a subsidiary body to strengthen the participation of indigenous peoples in the CBD is on the negotiating table. The latter, it should be remembered, hold land rights over more than a quarter of the planet’s landmass and are the main custodians of local genetic resources.
COP16 continues with numerous events and forums on a wide range of topics. The much-anticipated high-level segment will take place next Tuesday and Wednesday, on the eve of the closing of COP16, which is the busiest event ever held on biodiversity.
Last modified: 14 mars 2025