EU welcomes positive outcome of COP16 biodiversity negotiations in Rome

The resumed meeting of the parties to the COP16 Global Biodiversity Conference ended in Rome on Thursday (Feb 27) following an agreement on outstanding issues. The negotiations demonstrated the global community’s strong support for the swift implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). 

Speaking on the occasion, Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, said:

“I welcome the positive outcome of the global biodiversity negotiations in Rome. An agreement has been reached on all outstanding issues. We have secured a global roadmap to support financing for biodiversity beyond 2030. This is proof that multilateralism works, despite a difficult international geopolitical context and multiple global challenges. Working closely together, all Parties agreed on a roadmap for the mobilisation of resources to close the biodiversity financing gap. Agreement was also reached on the monitoring framework and the procedures for the global review of implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework at the next COP17 Global Biodiversity Conference.

The newly established Cali Fund was also launched. Now, companies benefiting from digital sequence information on genetic resources can share some of the proceeds with biodiverse countries of origin, with half of the fund allocated to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. These achievements show that despite a fragmented geopolitical landscape, the global community chose to come together to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. And we all did this with a spirit of compromise, openness and flexibility.”

You can read the Commissioner’s full statement here.

Main decisions

Parties adopted a Strategy for Resource Mobilisation that identifies a broad range of instruments, mechanisms and institutions that could be tapped to mobilise the funds needed to implement the GBF. 

Parties also enhanced the monitoring framework for the GBF, agreed upon at COP15. The monitoring framework is essential for implementing the Framework because it provides the common yardstick that Parties will use to measure progress against the 23 targets and 4 goals.

At COP16, Parties agreed on the way that the indicators would be measured and used. This will ensure that all Parties track progress in a way that national policy makers can interpret and it will provide data that can be aggregated up to the global level to provide a worldwide picture of implementation.

Parties also took important decisions on how progress in the implementation of the GBF will be reviewed at COP17 as part of the planned global stock take.

The EU will continue to work with countries worldwide to find solutions and continue implementing this historic agreement until 2030 and beyond. 

Background

The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreed in 2022 provides clear goals and targets, and a roadmap to protect and restore biodiversity worldwide. Currently, 46 countries have submitted revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), and 124 countries have uploaded their national targets to the online reporting tool.

The next Conference of the Parties will take place in 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia.

More information

EU and global biodiversity webpage

Two years of landmark Global Biodiversity Framework show results, but work must continue

Euronews ‘Road to Green’ episode 13: Silencing guns, not birds - how the EU and Colombia are making peace with nature

COP16: EU delivers on global financing commitments to protect nature - European Commission