OPINION: The nature target shortfalls of COP16
In 2022, Australia and 195 other countries pledged to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity. The resulting agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, included the ‘30×30 target’ – to protect at least 30 per cent of land, inland waters and oceans, have at least 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems under effective restoration, and halt human-induced extinction of known threatened species, all by 2030. Australia, with its many unique species, high rate of extinction, and real opportunities to protect and repair nature, has an important part to play.
The recent COP16 UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia, was the chance to finalise unresolved items and check on the progress of those targets.
So, what were the outcomes? Australia and 43 other countries submitted full national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), which detail how a country will tackle biodiversity loss, and 119 countries submitted 2716 National Targets aligned with the 2022 framework.
In a significant outcome, the parties established a subsidiary body expected to enhance the engagement and participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in all processes under the Convention on Biological Diversity. This should enable more inclusive and better decisions for nature.
The breakthrough decision for establishing the scientific process for identifying ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) was welcome.
A new financial mechanism – the ‘Cali Fund’ – for sharing benefits from Digital Sequence Information (DSI), was established. This is an important move to address how pharmaceutical, biotechnology, animal and plant breeding, and other industries that benefit from genetic sequences from plants, animals, or microorganisms, should share those benefits with developing countries, indigenous peoples and local communities.
Now for the not-so-good news.
Australia was not among the eight governments who pledged an additional US$163 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. This additional pledge brought total funding to about $396 million – a long way short of the global commitment to mobilise at least US$200 billion annually from all sources by 2030.
In a bizarre turn of events, the COP was forced to end abruptly without key decisions being agreed upon. As the discussions dragged on, country representatives left to get flights home, resulting in a lack of a quorum to vote. As a result, key issues were left unresolved: there was, for example, no agreement on a monitoring framework to track progress on global goals, and no adoption of a comprehensive finance strategy to meet those goals. The parties left deeply divided over a new fund to finance biodiversity.
Outside of the negotiations, sessions on biodiversity credits and markets were the hottest ticket in town, and Australia’s emerging Nature Repair Market was constantly referenced as an early adopter.
Data released at the COP showed 17.6 per cent of Earth’s terrestrial and inland waters and 8.4 per cent of marine and coastal areas have been protected. This means we need to act urgently if we want to meet the 30×30 target. A session I convened at the COP highlighted many countries that are making progress. But in order to scale up our efforts, we need deep change around both funding and policy. In a promising step on funding, a new coalition of NGOs, including The Nature Conservancy, was announced to scale climate and conservation outcomes through the use of sovereign debt conversions.
Clearly, COP16 did not deliver all that was hoped for. And yet we simply don’t have time to stall. If we’re going to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, we need to ramp up the progress on our global targets and commitments. This means continuing the pragmatic, consistent work on policy and funding for nature. In both these areas, Australia needs to and can demonstrate leadership.
Dr James Fitzsimons is senior advisor, Global Protection Strategies with The Nature Conservancy; Adjunct Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University; Adjunct Professor, School of Law, University of Tasmania; and a councillor on Australia’s Biodiversity Council.
