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The third day began with intense rains and traffic jams leading to the COP16 venue. As many as 27 closed meetings, 46 side events and 5 press meetings awaited me. At the KMGBF Pavilion and Place Québec, small interactions were organised by various stakeholders. Overall, a daunting day for someone struggling with jet lag.
The most interesting discussion I attended during the day was at a session organised by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on the support they give to Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols.
In this, there were presentations by beneficiary countries on how the funds had helped them in implementing the two protocols. This was followed by a few talks by experts.
The GEF funds are routed through a handful of implementing agencies. UNDP is one of them. This presentation by Santiago Carrizosa, senior technical advisor, provided a synthesis of the projects implemented by UNDP.
Overall, there is a portfolio of access and benefit sharing (ABS) projects in 50 countries. The GEF funds have been used to strengthen ABS regulation in 50 countries.
The funds have also been used to prepare Biocultural community protocols prepared in 15 countries. There has been awareness raising and training on ABS which has been imparted to 30,000 stakeholders. And finally, over 250 commercial agreements have been signed.
Carrizosa then gave some important points:
ABS government authorities could be more service oriented and business minded
Governments still have limited knowledge about business models of industries that use genetic resources
Biodiversity partnership is usually possible in countries that have relatively simple ABS policies and clear procedures to request access to genetic resources
Blockchain technology can be a useful tool to trace the flow of genetic resources and build trust
Over the years, biodiversity rich countries have increased their scientific and technological capacity to use genetics resources and companies from these countries can be excellent partners
An ABS business facility is needed
This positive note and directions on the way ahead is refreshing to hear at COP where days of negotiations are focused on what is not possible and what cannot be sustained.
The issue of biodiversity credits and offsets brought me back to reality. Though nature based solutions have been advised in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), experience in carbon credits and offsets suggest that caution is extremely necessary before moving ahead.
At a press meeting organised by the civil society including the Third World Network and Friends of the Earth International, Global Forest Coalition, Global Youth Biodiversity Network, and Indigenous Environmental Network, more than 300 academics and civil society have come together to discuss these solutions.
These solutions were likened to the emperor’s clothes by Nele Marien of Friends of the Earth International. The groups want public funding instead and phasing out triggers of biodiversity loss such as mining, intensive agriculture and others.