“This is an unprecedented occasion in the history of multilateral environmental agreements,” said Camila Paz Romero, spokeswoman for indigenous peoples at the summit. UN news.

“Indigenous peoples and local communities of the world – connected by our knowledge systems in the care of life and biodiversity – remember the long road we traveled to this agreement.”

Efforts to get a seat at the table took three decades.

In Cali, the summit, officially known as the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, ended after 12 days of intense discussions among 170 delegates, according to Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.

The central objective of the Convention, adopted by 196 countries in 1992, is to promote measures leading to a sustainable future.

COP16’s recognition of indigenous peoples as stewards of nature protection is unprecedented in the history of multilateral environmental agreements.

“Landmark for the world”

An agreement was reached after long debates and discussions at the end of COP16, giving indigenous peoples and people of African descent and their communities recognition as protagonists in biodiversity conservation, while deciding to create a subsidiary body for them under Article 8J of the convention.

“This new subsidiary body is a benchmark for the rest of the world where parties recognize the continued need for our full and effective participation, knowledge, innovations, technologies and traditional practices to meet the goals of the convention,” Ms. Paz said. .

This provision specifically states that each signatory country must respect, preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

New decision-making powers

The newest subsidiary body translates into a permanent space for indigenous peoples and local communities to participate in biodiversity decision-making.

This space will also strengthen dialogue between countries and indigenous peoples and local communities as a way to define actions that contribute to protecting nature.

The other two subsidiary bodies that participated in COP16 were the scientific, technical and technological advisory body, which conducts assessments of the state of biodiversity, and the implementation branch, which makes recommendations on technical and scientific aspects of the implementation of the convention.

The world’s first for nature’s genetic data

In another first, COP16 delegates decided to create a global fund for the collection of economic resources from the use of digital sequence information – genetic codes derived from body samples that are often shared digitally – and its fair and equitable distribution.

As such, companies that use this information to develop products will have to allocate a portion of their profits to what is called the Cali Fund from which resources will be allocated to indigenous peoples and local communities, directly or through governments.

Benefit sharing will also take into account criteria such as national conservation needs and richness of biodiversity.

Outstanding issues on the table

However, two issues remain unresolved, both instrumental to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, a global plan that was adopted during COP15 in Canada to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

One was the lack of a definition for a funding model to deliver the biodiversity protection plan. Calculations indicate that $700 billion is needed to implement the framework.

The other pending issue is a monitoring mechanism to measure countries’ progress in meeting the roadmap to protect biodiversity.

By the end of the summit, discussions on these issues were suspended due to the fact that there were not enough negotiators present to reach an agreement.

COP of the People

On the sidelines of the summit, a “green zone” was set up for civil society groups, according to Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad, who said about 40,000 people participated in related activities and that the area attracted about one million visits.

“In short, this was the people’s COP,” said Ms Muhamad.

“The ‘peace with nature’ coalition was installed and it was possible to mobilize the most important education campaign that Colombia has had in its history and to see so many people excited about biodiversity.”