This week sees the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) open in Cali, Columbia, bringing 190 participants together from across the world to focus on the issue of nature and preventing nature loss. As the first sessions open, what can we expect to be topping the agenda? How is the conference aiming to drive change and what should businesses look out for?
This year’s biodiversity COP will revisit one of the key outcomes from COP15 two years ago – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also known as the Biodiversity Plan. The agreement marked a major milestone at COP15 and set out four high-level goals, which are broadly: maintaining ecosystem integrity, substantially increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 2050, halting human induced extinction of known threatened species and reducing the extinction rate tenfold. It also set 23 targets, including the much-discussed aim of 30×30 – a commitment to protect and conserve a minimum of 30% land and sea for biodiversity by 2030.
So, a key part of discussions over the next fortnight will centre on the actions and achievements towards those goals and targets, and how to drive forward progress. Governments will be considering how their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans are acting to support the Biodiversity Plan and seeking to further negotiate the monitoring framework. What’s agreed here will help to mobilise implementation.
Another key discussion point we expect is around finance – how will the necessary financial resources be mobilised from different international sources and channelled into nature restoration? This links back to Target 18 of the Biodiversity Plan on the reform of environmentally harmful subsidies and Target 19 that commits governments to mobilise 200 billion USD per year, by 2030. This level of investment is significant and will be key to successful implementation – it’s also a theme that will carry through into the climate change conference COP29 next month, which is being dubbed ‘the finance COP’.
So, why is all this important for businesses? Identifying, measuring and reporting on nature-related impacts is high on the business agenda, as organisations look to evolve their approach to sustainability. The discussions at COP16 will bring some of the key issues into focus and provide an opportunity for businesses to see how they can align and support nature-positive outcomes. There is much guidance out there in terms of reporting – including the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures framework and science-based targets among the most widely discussed – but the emphasis is on each organisation finding its own tailored approach.
We’re excited to be joining representatives at this year’s COP16 and to be able to share key insights from the sessions and side events taking place. Look out on our LoupedIn blog for more news from COP16 and the key takeaways for businesses.
To read more on the theme of nature and biodiversity, check out our ‘a climate for nature’ series of Q&A articles, which we’ve been running in the lead up to COP16
About the author(s)
Ben Stansfield is one the UK's leading lawyers practising planning and environmental law. Ben is based in Gowling WLG's London office and brings with him a wealth of experience advising clients on the consenting and regulation of their projects and their compliance with environmental regulations and reporting standards.