Following the release of the sobering Living Planet Report 2024, global leaders gathered in Cali, Colombia, from October 21 to November 1 for the COP16 UN Biodiversity Conference. Representatives from 196 countries convened with the critical task of advancing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) into actionable plans. However, despite high hopes, COP16 struggled to deliver the transformative outcomes many hoped for, and significant questions remain about the future of global biodiversity protection.
The GBF underscores the essential role biodiversity plays in sustaining planetary health, food security, climate stability, and economic resilience.
With COP16 now concluded, let’s take a look at what transpired—and what went wrong.
By UN Biodiversity – 22dec19-COP15-Adoption-of-the-Kunming-Montreal-Framework-8781, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134350729
COP16: What Went Wrong?
Every two years, world leaders meet to address the state of biodiversity, aiming to halt biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems. Each COP meeting is rooted in an international agreement; for biodiversity, this is the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, which outlines 23 targets and four overarching goals for nature preservation this decade.
This year, COP16 aimed to translate these targets into actionable national plans, with governments presenting their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Yet, many countries arrived unprepared with only preliminary drafts or vague ideas. This lack of readiness underscored an unfortunate reality: the urgency expressed in the Kunming-Montreal Agreement has not yet been matched by concrete national commitments.
A core part of COP16’s agenda was to establish systems for tracking and monitoring biodiversity progress. But while finance and land protection targets can be measured with relative ease, tracking declines in species populations and biodiversity density is more challenging. COP16 ended without a consensus on reliable monitoring frameworks, leaving the world still unclear on how to effectively measure progress toward these ambitious goals.
Photo by The Climate Reality Project on Unsplash.
The Missed Outcomes of COP16
Several anticipated outcomes failed to materialise at COP16:
- Insufficient Commitment to NBSAPs: While some countries shared partial plans, many lacked concrete timelines or measurable goals, raising doubts about their true commitment to biodiversity protection. The absence of enforceable obligations made it difficult to gauge how seriously nations are taking their biodiversity promises.
- Weak Monitoring and Reporting Frameworks: Despite lengthy debates, COP16 concluded without a robust system for tracking biodiversity progress. Without a transparent and effective framework, it will be challenging to hold countries accountable or adjust actions as needed to meet biodiversity targets.
- Lack of Adequate Financial Commitments: The finance gap, especially for developing nations, remains vast. Although some new funding pledges were made, they fell short of what’s required to meet biodiversity needs globally. Many conservationists and advocates are concerned that this lack of financing will make it difficult for nations to follow through on their NBSAPs, further weakening the prospects for meaningful change.
Why COP16 is disappointing for Rewilding Advocates
Rewilding offers a dynamic, open-ended way to restore ecosystems and could play a major role in achieving biodiversity targets. Yet COP16’s outcomes showed little progress toward create a base to integrate rewilding into national biodiversity frameworks. Without the necessary policy support and funding, many rewilding initiatives may stall, despite their potential to contribute meaningfully to biodiversity recovery.
The lack of concrete commitments and the failure to establish a unified monitoring framework is a setback for rewilding advocates, who are pushing for flexible goals and innovative success metrics that align with rewilding’s evolving nature.
Where Do We Go From Here?
As COP16 closes, it is clear that significant challenges remain. The coming months will reveal whether nations can strengthen their commitments and translate promises into action. However, without stronger financial backing and more robust accountability mechanisms, many of COP16’s goals risk becoming little more than aspirational targets.
The COP16 outcomes underscore an urgent reality: the international community must redouble efforts to address the biodiversity crisis if we hope to prevent further degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity. It is clear that much work remains, and the global community will need to hold governments accountable to ensure the promises made at COP16 translate into measurable action.
In the aftermath of this conference, conservationists, rewilding advocates, and biodiversity experts are left with a daunting task—to continue pushing for transformative policies and actions even as COP16 falls short.
The path forward will demand not only greater transparency and accountability but also an unwavering commitment to the idea that biodiversity protection is not a luxury but a necessity for a sustainable future.
