مؤتمر كوب 16 لإنقاذ الطبيعة يدخل يومه الأخير مع خلافات حول التمويل

COP16: Nature's Lifeline Hangs in the Balance as Funding Disputes Linger

The world's largest nature conservation conference, COP16, is entering its final day in Colombia on Friday, with negotiators still at odds over how to best finance plans to "halt and reverse" species loss.

Amidst rumors of talks potentially extending into an extra day, the summit's president, Susana Muhamad, declared that the concluding session scheduled for Friday promises to be "impactful" given the number of unresolved issues.

"These are very complex negotiations, with many interests and many parties… This means everyone has to give something up," Muhamad, Colombia's environment minister, told reporters on Thursday.

With approximately 23,000 registered delegates, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),which kicked off in Cali on October 21, is the largest gathering of its kind ever.

This event serves as a follow-up to the Global Biodiversity Framework Kunming-Montreal, agreed upon in Canada two years ago, which resolved to provide $200 billion annually for biodiversity by 2030.

This should include a transfer of $20 billion per year from wealthy countries to developing nations to achieve the UN's 23 goals for "halting and reversing" nature's destruction by 2030, by placing 30 percent of terrestrial and marine areas under protection.

COP16 was tasked with assessing and enhancing progress toward these objectives.

However, negotiations on funding mechanisms have failed to make headway, according to observers and delegates, despite new research this week showing that more than a quarter of the plants and animals assessed are at risk of extinction.

An Opportunity for Action

Developing countries have called for more funding.

They also desire the creation of a new fund under the umbrella of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, where all parties – rich and poor – have representation in decision-making.

Wealthy nations insist they are on track to meet their funding goals, and many oppose the establishment of yet another new fund.

European officials on Thursday pointed to the deadly floods in Spain as a reminder of the harm caused by humans' destruction of nature, urging delegates in the stalled talks to "take action."

"The "disaster" that unfolded in eastern and southern Spain this week, which has left at least 158 people dead and dozens still missing, highlights the link between biodiversity loss and human-induced climate change, said European Commission envoy Florika Fink-Hoermann.

Droughts and floods exacerbated by global warming are causing the loss of plant species, including trees that absorb carbon contributing to global warming, in a vicious cycle of land degradation due to human activities.

"If we work on biodiversity, we can at least mitigate some of the climate impacts," Fink-Hoermann, the European Commission's Director-General for Environment, told reporters.

"At this COP, we truly have an opportunity to act."

Time is Ticks

Another point of contention among delegates is how best to share the profits from digitally sequenced genetic data taken from animals and plants with the communities they belong to.

Such data, mostly from species found in poorer nations, is notably used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics that generate billions for their developers.

COP15 had agreed to establish a "multilateral mechanism" for benefit sharing of digital information, "including a global fund."

But negotiators still need to resolve key issues such as who pays, how much, into which fund, and where the money should go.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who stopped in Cali for two days this week with five heads of state and dozens of government ministers to add momentum to the talks, reminded delegates on Wednesday that humanity has already altered three-quarters of the Earth's surface.

He urged negotiators to "accelerate" progress, warning that "the clock is ticking; the survival of biodiversity on our planet – and our own – is at stake."

Representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities have staged protests at COP16 to push for more rights and protection, as delegates inside debate a proposal to establish a permanent representative body for them under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

On this matter as well, no final agreement has been reached.

The 16 parties of COP16 voted on Thursday in favor of Armenia hosting their next summit in 2026.

(AFP)