The negotiations of the 16th Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), better known as COP16, simply did not end. After 13 hours of debate in the final session, the plenary lost density. Less than half of the representatives of the 196 countries had left their posts hours ago. Some had flights to return home and did not have a margin to reschedule, others were exhausted.
This is how, at the last and most central point of discussion, the world summit was suspended on November 2nd, 2024, due to lack of quorum. At 8 a.m., Brazil and Panama requested that the parties be counted and it was reported that, by protocol, the meeting could not continue.
It does not mean that there were no achievements: most of the negotiated issues had already reached a satisfactory conclusion, but the discussion on how to fine-tune financing mechanisms to cover the costs of implementing almost everything agreed before was postponed to the intersessional meetings to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, next year.
This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network. It was originally published in LA NACION on 3rd November, 2024.
Banner image: COP16 conference / Credit: LA NACION.
Matías Avramow
