The final plenary of 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) dragged on for more than 24 hours over the night of November 1, 2024.
On the issue of digital sequence information (DSI), developing countries raised concerns about how the agreement would impact nations’ sovereign rights over biodiversity. This is the basic principle behind the CBD.
There were some last-minute delays when India pointed out that many of its concerns were not included in the final document and asked for some changes.
To put this in context, the president’s text was prepared on the issue and this was discussed with Parties. Developing countries had pointed out issues in the text but the final text did not address them. India did not take part in the discussions but raised the issues in the plenary.
India’s concerns were largely on the fact that as countries have national regulations, agreeing to the multilateral mechanism, which is more or less voluntary, would not be beneficial.
They were not allowed to explain what they wanted and were asked to think about the changes needed and come back later. Observers say that both developed and developing countries tried to change India’s stand over the issue over the next few hours.
Developed countries pointed out that if you make an exception for national legislation then companies will not pay in the global fund, now named the Cali Fund, as they need to know that they do not have to pay twice. Developing countries, which do not have a national system in place, wanted the agreement to be adopted.
Finally, India’s concerns have been put in an annex and a phrase “without prejudice to national legislation” has been included in the text.
Other than the decision on DSI, the parties also agreed to include people of African descendants in the text of article 8(j) alongside the indigenous peoples and local communities. This will give this group visibility and a voice in negotiations. In Colombia alone, Afro-descendant peoples manage over 11.4 million hectares across municipalities. However, they do not have land rights and live in fear of losing their land.
The decision to form a subsidiary body on Article 8 (j) and related provisions of the Convention on matters related to IPLCs (Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities) was adopted at the meeting. This empowers IPLCs to play a role in influencing the outcomes of the Convention.
At 8:27 am, COP President Susana Muhamad announced that quorum was not met and suspended the meeting. Some decisions could not be taken due to this.
Decisions on finance have been postponed to the next interim meeting in Bangkok. Discussions on a ‘new finance mechanism’ began too late in the meeting for a consensus to be reached. Developed countries have not yet reached the $20 billion target set for 2025. Without adequate funds, developing countries would not be able to put systems in place to meet the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets put in place in 2022.