COP16 roundup: The key decisions from the biodiversity summit

Crucial decisions on protecting nature will be left until next year after the world’s nations couldn’t conclude a new agreement at the biodiversity conference COP16.

Despite negotiations running through the night at the end of the two-week conference, the meeting on the Convention on Biological Diversity was suspended on the morning of Saturday 2 November. A check of the hall revealed there were not enough delegates left to make the votes legally binding.

Many negotiators had been forced to leave COP16 in order to catch flights, meaning key votes on conservation targets and funding couldn’t be taken.

While these decisions will be left until nations reconvene in Thailand next year, COP16 did manage to make progress on a number of issues. A new body representing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC) was established, while a tentative agreement was made on payments for genetic information.

Here are the key takeaways coming out of COP16:

Missing deadlines for biodiversity plans

The conference got off to a slow start when many nations failed to submit their proposals to restore nature on time.

Before COP16, it was revealed that over 80% of countries had failed to submit their national biodiversity strategy and action plans (NBSAPs) on time. While some nations, such as Colombia, released their plans during the conference, only 44 of the 196 parties had submitted plans by the time the conference was over.

These pledges are key for preserving biodiversity as they provide a roadmap for nations as they protect and restore nature.

While many countries did submit biodiversity targets, these don’t provide any detail of how they will be achieved.

A win for Indigenous representation

Indigenous Peoples and local communities will be formally represented at biodiversity COPs for the first time, following a landmark agreement at COP16.

While IPLCs have been represented by a working group at these meetings for more than 20 years, this was an informal setup that was dependent on nations listening to its views. As a permanent body, the group will be able to directly feed into decisions made at future biodiversity COPs.

IPLC representation is important, as they have been nurturing and protecting their ancestral lands for thousands of years. Research suggests that when the rights of IPLCs are recognised and given the opportunity to manage protected areas, the conservation outcomes are better than when they aren’t involved.

A mixed picture for genetic data

One key sticking point in negotiations has been discussion over digital sequence information, or DSI. This is a term which covers data obtained from DNA sequences and cell biochemistry.

This information can be used for a wide variety of purposes such as medicine development and cosmetics. It’s become controversial because this DNA is held in global databases that make it difficult to know where the information originally came from.

This means that any potential benefits of DSI are lost to the country where the original DNA sequences were first found, which could see them miss out on money and scientific expertise.

At COP15, nations agreed to increase the sharing of DSI benefits, but didn’t outline how this would happen.

Intense negotiations at COP16 eventually led to a new ‘Cali’ fund being set up. Under the agreement, companies using DSI that meet certain criteria should contribute 1% of their profits, or 0.1% of their revenue, to the fund. This fund will then be shared among IPLCs and countries whose DSI is being used.

While this could potentially raise billions for nature, the agreement is voluntary so it’s dependent on the companies themselves to pay into it. Concerns were also raised over changes to the wording of the agreement that could result in loopholes appearing.

Missing deadlines

As COP16 ran out of time, many decisions that were meant to be made, and pledges that were meant to be fulfilled, have been left up in the air.

One important vote that didn’t take place was on how biodiversity targets should be measured. While the nations of the world agreed on targets at COP15, they left deciding how progress will be tracked to COP16. This will now be left for future negotiations.

One of COP15’s targets that is already set to be missed is included under Target 19, which called on nations to raise $200 billion a year for biodiversity protection and restoration by 2030.

As part of this pledge, developed nations were meant to provide at least $20 billion a year by 2025. That deadline looks set to be missed, with less than two months to go and billions still yet to be raised.

These issues will return to the agenda when negotiators reconvene for an interim meeting in Bangkok next year, ahead of COP17 in Armenia in 2026.