This year’s United Nations biodiversity summit, COP16, has kicked off this week in Colombia, a nature hotspot described as one of the world’s 17 “megadiverse” countries. More than 23,000 representatives from governments, civil society, media and beyond – a record number for a biodiversity conference – have gathered in the country’s third-largest city, Cali, for two weeks of talks.
The summit comes two years after COP15, when 196 countries committed to a global deal on nature that set out four long-term goals and 23 specific targets to be achieved by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. In Cali, governments will focus on implementation of this agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), with many starting to submit updated national plans towards this.
For Latin America, the conference is an opportunity to highlight the region’s critical role in preserving biodiversity amid growing threats from extractive industries. As the COP president, Colombia has also aimed to put issues around energy systems and transitions high up the agenda. Energy has received less attention at previous summits, but its linkages with biodiversity and natural resources, as well as climate change, are being highlighted by the presidency, and have stirred debate among participants in various panels at the event.
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This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organized by Internews' Earth Journalism Network. It was first published in Dialogue Earth on October 24, 2024. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Banner image: Three great egrets (Ardea alba) on a branch in Montelíbano, northern Colombia. As COP16 host, the country is driving the agenda towards the links between biodiversity, climate change and energy transition/ Credit: Cristian Garavito / Presidencia de Colombia)
Fermin Koop
