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From Geneva to Cali | International Geneva @ UN Biodiversity Conference

Mise à jour: 24 Fév 2025

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The 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference took place in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 2 November 2024. This major event, convened under the theme “Peace with Nature,” included concurrent meetings of the governing bodies of the Convention and its Protocols, including the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP16), the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP11), and the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization (NP-MOP5).

About the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference

The UN Biodiversity Conference took place in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 2 November 2024. This major event, convened under the theme “Peace with Nature,” included concurrent meetings of the governing bodies of the Convention and its Protocols, including the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP16), the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP11), and the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization (NP-MOP5). It kicks off this year’s series of UN summits on Biodiversity, Climate and Land, advancing negotiations of the three global treaties that emerged from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

At COP16, participants reviewed the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), including through the alignment of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and resource mobilization.

UN Biodiversity Conference Official Website
COP16 News Coverage
IISD ENB daily updates
Rewatch Plenaries on UN Web TV

COP16 Outcomes

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 16) was suspended at 8.27 am of Saturday 2 November, after roughly 12 hours of meeting in the Plenary session. COP 16 lost quorum and was suspended before approval of a few last items. It will resume at a later date and venue to complete the agenda. Member States:

  • agreed on an expanded role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in biodiversity decision-making, establishing a subsidiary body on Article 8(j) and related provisions of the Convention,
  • adopted a decision on the role of people of African descent in the implementation of the Convention,
  • adopted an agreement on the operationalization of a new global mechanism to share benefits from digital genetic information.
  • failed to establish a new wider biodiversity fund and to approve the Convention budget for the next two years.

With a record number of 23,000 pre-registered delegates, a High-level Segment attended by six Heads of States, more than 130 Ministers and Vice Ministers, and over 70 leaders of international organisations, what has been by far the largest CBD COP — the People’s COP — welcomed and allowed the participation of a broad set of stakeholders, with Indigenous Peoples at the centre stage. The results, built on a spirit of compromise, and dialogue, demonstrate that “multilateralism can still achieve results in a fractious time”.

COP16 decided Armenia will host the UN Biodiversity Conference COP17 in 2026.

→ Read more on the outcomes in the CBD press release and the Earth Negotiation Bulletin.

Reactions to the outcomes of the Cali meetings include:

Summary Report IISD ENB
Carbon Brief Summary

Resumed Sessions of the UN Biodiversity Conference

This week, the resumed sessions of the UN Biodiversity Conference, including the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol and the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol, will convene at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy, from 25 to 27 February 2025. The resumed sessions will address agenda items left unresolved following the suspension of the meeting due to loss of quorum in the early hours of 2 November 2024. → Follow the IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin live coverage

Key issues for the resumed discussions will include:

Additional news include:

UN Biodiversity Conference Associated Parallel Meetings
Side Events Schedule

Reports

  • Global Ecosystems Atlas unveiled to transform ecosystems stewardship | The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) announced the launch of the proof-of-concept of the Global Ecosystems Atlas, the first harmonised resource dedicated to mapping and monitoring all the world’s ecosystems. The Global Ecosystems Atlas will serve as an essential tool to support the protection, restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems critical to addressing global environmental crises.
  • Protected Planet Report | Launched by UNEP WCMC and IUCN, the report provides the first official global evaluation of progress towards one of the Framework’s 23 targets – Target 3 (the global commitment to protect and conserve 30% of the Earth’s lands and waters by 2030).  Target 3 goes well beyond coverage, it requires that protected and conserved areas are effectively managed, equitably governed and recognized with respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It also commits governments to conserve the most important natural spaces and to ensure that these areas are connected to each other. In short, the elements of the target call for in situ conservation to be scaled up in ways that benefit both nature and people.
  • First Global Tree Assessment | According to the first Global Tree Assessment, published in the updated IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, thirty-eight % of the world’s trees are at risk of extinction. For the first time, the majority of the world’s trees have been listed on the IUCN Red List, revealing that at least 16,425 of the 47,282 species assessed are at risk of extinction. Trees now account for over one-quarter of species on the IUCN Red List, and the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined. Tree species are at risk of extinction in 192 countries around the world.
  • Designing and managing protected and conserved areas to support inland water ecosystems and biodiversity | Motivated by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s inclusion of inland waters in the target to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030, this IUCN report provides guidance in employing protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures to benefit these ecosystems and the biodiversity they support. Through a series of case studies and synthesized research, it highlights how integrating the unique needs of inland waters into area-based strategies can improve conservation effectiveness across all realms, build climate resilience and sustain critical ecosystem services.
  • What Are Nature Strategies and Nature Transition Plans? | Developed by Business for Nature, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zer, Science Based Targets Network, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, WBCSD, WEF and WWF, this explainer document aims to help organizations articulate how they plan to respond and contribute to the transition implied by the GBF and support businesses and financial institutions drive accountability, and manage their nature-related dependencies, risks and opportunities.
  • Exploring nature-positive buildings | WBCSD, in collaboration with its members and supported by global sustainable development consultancy Arup, has launched this research on how to measure and monitor the nature impacts of buildings across their whole lifecycle.

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