COP16 concludes with several landmark EU-championed outcomes

The 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) under the banner “COP of the people” ended on Saturday, demonstrating encouraging momentum for the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Several important decisions were taken, and notably, countries agreed on an expanded role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in saving biodiversity and a groundbreaking agreement on the operationalisation of a new global mechanism to share benefits from digital genetic information. 

By the end of the COP, 44 countries had submitted revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans and 119 Parties had uploaded their national targets in the online reporting tool, including the European Union. These will be the basis for the first national reports due in 2026.

The EU showed leadership through:-

• Clear policies and targets adopted domestically;
• Reliable delivery of global financial support on the way to the commitment to double external biodiversity financing to €7 billion;
• And by fostering discussions on ‘nature credits’

Strengthening role of IPLCs

Various important decisions were taken, in particular on the role of IPLCs under the Convention with the creation of a new Subsidiary Body that will give them an institutional voice.

The COP also adopted a strong work plan on IPLCs and a decision on the role of traditional Afro-descendant communities in biodiversity conservation. This will ensure the meaningful contribution of IPLCs towards the three objectives of the Convention:-

• The conservation of biological diversity;
• The sustainable use of biological diversity;
• And the fair and equitable sharing of benefits 

Launch of 'Cali Fund'

The COP also reached a groundbreaking decision on operationalising a multilateral mechanism for the use of digital sequencing information from genetic resources (DSI).

A newly established Fund will allocate a significant share of its resources to IPLCs. Pharmaceutical, cosmetics, agribusiness, nutraceutical, and large technology companies that benefit from genetic data are encouraged to contribute to the Cali Fund.

While the contributions to the mechanism will be voluntary, the agreement suggests that these industries allocate 1% of the profits derived from the use of DSI or 0.1% of their overall revenue to the fund. In return, they will get legal conformity and access to a multilateral system of DSI.

This decision operationalises the agreement taken by Parties at COP15 to establish a mechanism to share these resources more fairly and equitably, marking a huge step forward in implementing the Framework.   

Other key decisions

At the COP, parties adopted several significant decisions on:-

• Establishing a network of regional Centers for Scientific and Technical Cooperation; 
• An action plan for biodiversity and health; 
• Integrating UN-level climate action and biodiversity efforts; 
• Procedures to describe ecologically and biologically significant marine areas, essential for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty and for protecting 30% of ocean areas by 2030; 
• Mainstreaming biodiversity across key sectors;  
• Synthetic biology; 
• Guidance on invasive Alien Species

Monitoring progress, funding & resource mobilisation

Progress was made on decisions needed to make the Global Biodiversity Framework fully operational, including its monitoring framework and the procedures for the Global Review of Implementation in 2026 and 2030.

However, these decisions could not be adopted as the COP ran out of time to complete discussions. The COP confirmed the lack of consensus among parties on how to address the international biodiversity finance gaps.

Since COP15 had decided that a global dedicated financial instrument is to be considered after 2030, it was premature to agree to calls from some countries to establish a new fund, without any clarity on its funding and role. These discussions will now continue in inter-sessional meetings. 

Next steps

CBD COP16 remains to be resumed for adopting (some of) the outstanding decisions, including the decision on the Budget. The subsidiary body on implementation and the working group on matters related to IPLCs are likely to meet in autumn 2025. The next Conference of the Parties will take place in 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia.