• The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concluded in Cali, Colombia on November 2.

• Delegates from 196 countries agreed on an expanded role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in saving biodiversity and a groundbreaking agreement on the operationalisation of a new global mechanism to share benefits from digital genetic information.

• A measure to recognise the importance of the role of people of African descent in the protection of nature was also adopted in Cali.

• Under the theme ‘Peace With Nature’, this was the first biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP 15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.

Highlights of the COP16:

Subsidiary body for Indigenous Peoples

• Agreement was reached after lengthy debates and discussions at the close of COP16, giving Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent and their communities recognition as protagonists in biodiversity conservation.

• It was also agreed to create a subsidiary body to represent the interests of Indigenous Peoples under Article 8J of the Convention. 

• The subsidiary body is considered a breakthrough in recognising the role that Indigenous Peoples play in conserving nature globally, including some of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.

• The newest subsidiary body translates into a permanent space for Indigenous Peoples and local communities to participate in decision making on biodiversity.

• That space will also strengthen dialogue between countries and Indigenous Peoples and local communities as a way to define actions that contribute to protecting nature.

Article 8J of the Convention

• The Convention on Biological Diversity recognises the dependency of Indigenous Peoples and local communities on biological diversity and their unique role in conserving life on Earth. This recognition is enshrined in the preamble of the Convention and its provisions. 

• Under Article 8J of the Convention, Parties have undertaken to respect, preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities relevant for the conservation of biological diversity and to promote their wider application with the approval of knowledge holders and to encourage equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological diversity. 

• Furthermore, because of its relevance to the work of the Convention, considerations relating to the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are also being incorporated in all the programmes of work under the Convention.

Global first for nature’s genetic data

• In another first, COP16 delegates decided to create a global fund for collecting economic resources from the use of digital sequence information — genetic codes coming from organism samples that are often shared digitally — and its fair, equitable distribution.

• As such, companies using this information to develop products will have to allocate part of their profits to what is being called the “Cali Fund” from which resources will be allocated to Indigenous Peoples and local communities, directly or through governments.

• Benefit-sharing will also consider such criteria as national conservation needs and biodiversity richness.

• Genetic data from nature is used in a wide range of products from nutrient-enriched rice to stone washed denim jeans distressed using enzymes derived from microbes.

Pending issues on the table

• Two issues remained unresolved, both instrumental for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, a global plan that was adopted during COP15 in Canada to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

• One was the lack of a definition for a financing model to bring the biodiversity protection plan to reality. Calculations indicate that $700 billion is required to implement the framework.

• In Cali, negotiators were split largely between poor and rich country blocs as they haggled over increased funding and other commitments. 

• The other pending issue is a monitoring mechanism to measure the progress of countries in complying with the roadmap to protect biodiversity.

• By the close of the summit, discussions on these issues were suspended due to the fact that there were no longer enough negotiators present to reach an agreement.

Who are Indigenous Peoples?

• Indigenous Peoples are distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced. 

• The land and natural resources on which they depend are inextricably linked to their identities, cultures, livelihoods, as well as their physical and spiritual well-being.

• Indigenous Peoples have in common a historical continuity with a given region prior to colonisation and a strong link to their lands. They maintain, at least in part, distinct social, economic and political systems. They have distinct languages, cultures, beliefs and knowledge systems. 

• There are over 476 million Indigenous People living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the global population, but account for about 19 per cent of the extreme poor. 

• They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

• They are nearly three times as likely to be living in extreme poverty compared to their non-indigenous counterparts.

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