Key biodiversity meeting recognises role of wild animals in climate mitigation but leaves concerns over halting nature loss

Negotiations stalled over financial issues, and the meeting ended chaotically when the final day overran into a 24-hour mammoth session that ultimately ended with key decisions deferred because so many delegates had to leave. Yet progress was made in some areas, including enhancing joint action on biodiversity loss and climate change, in a decision that recognises the role wild animals can play in climate mitigation, a key outcome IFAW had been seeking from this meeting.

Two years ago, the previous meeting of the CBD in Montreal, Canada, agreed on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)-a new 10-year plan to halt and reverse nature loss. Governments demonstrated real ambition when they adopted the GBF in 2022. But without funding and accountability, that ambition alone is not enough to address the extinction crisis we are facing. As the latest WWF Living Planet Report 2024 demonstrates, the decline of biodiversity continues to accelerate, so failure to reach agreement on fundamental issues, like how to fund the framework and how to monitor whether it is being achieved, undermines the good intentions of many governments who have committed to new national targets to deliver the framework.

Even without agreement on how the funding should be dispersed, eight governments (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Québec), pledged an additional $163 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF). While significant, this falls well short of the goal to mobilise at least $200 billion annually by 2030.

COP16 did establish a new funding mechanism in relation to products made using genetic data from nature, agreeing to a global levy on such products (for example, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics), potentially creating one of the world's largest biodiversity conservation funds. 50% of the funds raised this way will be earmarked directly for use by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This now requires implementation by national governments but could raise billions of dollars if implemented properly.

The COP also set up a new body especially for Indigenous Peoples, recognising officially their vital role as stewards of nature. Both topics had been longstanding debates in CBD, so these outcomes represent a significant win for multilateralism.