Note: This blog was written by Seth Thomas, a GYBN USA member,  for the National Wildlife Federation Blog, where it was originally posted on January 10, 2025. The original can be found here: https://blog.nwf.org/2025/01/un-biodiversity-conference-cop16-marks-major-wins-for-indigenous-peoples-falls-short-on-climate-finance/ 

The U.S. is one of only 17 countries across the globe classified as a megadiverse country; it is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Despite this, the U.S. did not get a vote at the United Nations (UN) biodiversity negotiations this year. While all eyes were on the upcoming UN Framework Convention on Combatting Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP29 in Azerbaijan, the UN biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia, was just getting started.

I attended the COP16 as the Youth Delegation’s U.S. focal point at the negotiations, working to connect them to the massive American network of research organizations, NGOs, state delegations, and federal representatives in attendance.

What is the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity?

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international legal treaty which governs all aspects of life on our planet. The three main types of biodiversity are genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity. The treaty encapsulates everything from large landscape conservation to the sharing of DNA sequencing information.

While incredibly broad in scope, an agreed upon decade-long set of goals called the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) guides the treaty. These targets include many of the same objectives as the U.S.’s domestic policy goals such as conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030. There are 23 targets in total, covering topics such as financing nature conservation, nature-based solutions for climate change, and ensuring equitable participation in decision-making processes.

What is America’s Role in the CBD?

The U.S. originally had reservations about provisions in the CBD relating to the sharing of benefits from DNA harvested from wild plants and animals. What would it mean for American corporations if they had to share profits generated from the use of wild animal DNA in products such as pharmaceuticals? The U.S. and the Vatican are the only two countries that did not ratify the convention.

Despite this, the U.S. still has immense influence and importance in shaping CBD decisions. The U.S. federal government possesses a massive amount of technical expertise, so in the early drafting stages of many resolutions they provide expert advice and input. The U.S. is also one of the largest funders of the CBD through their contributions to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and houses some of the foremost biodiversity researcher programs and advocacy organizations in the world.

Where the federal government has stepped back, states and NGOs have stepped up to fill the gap. This year California sent over 100 people in its delegation focusing on sub-national governance and how we can meet global biodiversity goals at the state level. Major American-based environmental groups also sent large delegations, paid for pavilions, and hosted a constant stream of events at the venue.

Their advocacy efforts to shape the treaty and create strong and ambitious agreements were strengthened by their large presence at the COP. While the U.S. cannot vote on any finalized text, this combination of inputs means that they still have a large influence in the outcome of negotiations.

What Were the Key Outcomes of COP16?

COP16 delivered major wins for empowering historically marginalized groups, strengthening synergies between climate change and biodiversity, and the sharing of genetic resources.

• A permanent subsidiary body for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities was created to give them a formal platform for interacting with the CBD.

• The important role of afro-descendants in protecting nature was also formally recognized by the Convention for the first time.

• A motion also passed to create aligned workstreams between the CBD and the UNFCCC to address the climate change and biodiversity crises simultaneously.

• Lastly, after years of negotiations, an agreement was reached on sharing the financial benefits of digital sequence information (DSI). Negotiators agreed to create the “Cali Fund”, where a percentage of profits made from the genetic information collected from wildlife can be contributed and the money would be utilized to support marginalized communities and conservation.

This year was the first chance for countries to submit their national biodiversity targets since the adoption of the GBF. However, at the start of COP16 only 26 out of the 196 member countries had met the deadline of submitting their targets before COP and by the end of the conference that number had only risen to 44.

These national targets are important as they are the material used to measure a country’s progress toward implementing the GBF. Alongside this shortfall, the parties also failed to agree on how to mobilize biodiversity finance and monitoring and implementation protocols before the conference closed. Due to the urgent need for these agreements before COP17, negotiations will resume in Rome early next year, but the failure to come to timely and ambitious consensus has already cast a shadow on whether these talks will move forward.

In two years the first major stock take of GBF goals will take place to see if the world is on track to meet our goals for safeguarding the environment by the end of the decade. As we race to combat biodiversity loss by 2030, the U.S. federal government, NGOs, and states must actively participate in the CBD, before we lose our chance to make a difference.

Every other year, the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) hold a Conference of the Parties (COP). At CBD COPs, parties discuss and decide on ways to advance the CBD’s implementation. At COP15 in Montreal, Canada, the parties adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) following a four-year consultation and negotiation process. The GBF is the most significant agreement under the CBD to date.

The GBF is comprised of four goals to achieve by 2050 and 23 targets to reach by 2030. 

The four goals are, in short:

(1) to halt human-induced species extinction;

(2) the sustainable use of biodiversity;

(3) equitable sharing of benefits; and 

(4) closing the biodiversity finance gap.

The 23 targets are categorized into three areas:

(1) reducing threats to biodiversity;

(2) meeting people's needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing; and

(3) tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming.

One target that many Americans are familiar with, whether they realize it originated as a target of the GBF or not, is the preservation of 30% of land, water, and coastal and marine ecosystems by 2030. President Biden declared this a policy goal in the United States just before the GBF was adopted.

At COP16 in Cali, Columbia, one of the main goals of the conference was to review progress of the parties towards their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), which are the national goals countries set to achieve the GBF goals and targets. By the end of COP16, just 44 out of 196 party countries had submitted their NBSAPs.

This blog was written by GYBN USA member Justin Gulino, NCEL’s Conservation Associate, who attended COP16 (the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity) from October 23 to November 1, 2024.

This article was originally published by the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL) and is reposted here. The statements expressed reflect those of NCEL, a non-lobbying and non-partisan organization, and do not necessarily represent the views of GYBN USA. Original post here: https://ncelenviro.org/articles/cop16-takeaways-u-s-states-help-to-rebalance-biodiversity-on-a-global-scale/ 

Overview: State Action to Preserve Biodiversity 

As the world gathered at COP16 in Cali, Colombia, to confront the biodiversity crisis, states like California stepped up to bring the American perspective to the global conservation stage. The conference included collaborative discussions around conservation policy and thought-provoking reminders of humans’ impact on the natural world, including The Biodiversity Game, a towering Jenga-like sculpture symbolizing the fragile balance of nature. This blog explores why state leadership in global conservation efforts matters more than ever in preserving nature’s delicate balance.

The Visual Warning of “The Biodiversity Game”

“The Biodiversity Game,” COP16’s premier art installation, offered one answer to why action to conserve biodiversity is crucial, making it clear that losing biodiversity threatens our children’s and grandchildren’s futures.

Designed by Benjamin Von Wong, The Biodiversity Game is a Jenga tower where each block represents different environments in the natural world, with three children perched atop. Scattered blocks on the ground show how human development, from sprawling suburbs to factory farms, has led to the decline of key ecosystems. As more blocks vanish, the tower teeters, symbolizing the growing instability of nature. 

When States Lead: California at COP16

Recognizing the threat nature faces, a 100-member California delegation –  including legislators, Tribal representatives, state agency officials, academics, business officials, and environmental professionals – attended the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) last October to showcase American state-level conservation leadership. The California Delegation and other subnational actors were among the few American officials attending COP16, as the federal government remained largely absent from the global conservation talks.

While the Convention aims to safeguard global biodiversity for future generations, the U.S. remains the only nation, aside from the Vatican, that has not ratified the global treaty to conserve nature. Despite helping to draft the agreement in 1992 and the Clinton Administration signing on, the U.S. never secured the votes needed in the Senate to ratify the treaty into law. As a result, the U.S. holds only “observer” status, limiting its role to informal participation without influence over final decisions about the CBD’s implementation.

A Legacy of Leadership: How U.S. Conservation Laws Shaped the World

The United States’ “observer” status ultimately limits its ability to lead on global biodiversity action, despite a legacy of shaping conservation policy worldwide. The American Endangered Species Act has influenced the creation of similar acts in Canada, Australia, Ireland, the Philippines, and across the African continent. All of these nations’ statutes share a similar conservation ethos to the United States: protecting endangered species improves both the long-term wellbeing of nature and each country’s citizens. 

U.S. influence is also seen in the endangered species trade laws of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Singapore, specifically in regards to implementing the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES). 

Conservation Alliances and Best Practices from Around the Globe

California took a leading role in highlighting recent American conservation action at COP16 with California Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot and state legislators Sen. Limón, Assemb. Kalra, and Assemb. Haney serving as ambassadors for California’s national-leading conservation policies. These officials shared the state’s progress on biodiversity conservation with the world through panel discussions, individual meetings with fellow policymakers, and even a press conference.

COP16 offered a vital space for collaboration, with Californians joining global voices — from Indigenous leaders to academics and business experts — to educate the audience on how differing approaches can drive meaningful progress in conservation. The conference also presented the opportunity to form long-term partnerships: California now chairs the Subnational Taskforce of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, launched in partnership with Quebec after the state’s 2022 attendance at COP15 in Montreal. 

International partnerships are necessary when considering the scale of biodiversity loss facing every state, nation, and the planet. Over 1 million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction within current lifetimes, being threatened primarily by habitat degradation, nature’s overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. While some of these drivers of biodiversity loss can be addressed locally, others, such as pollution, require collaboration. COP16 officially came to a close in February 2025 with new commitments to protect biodiversity worldwide. 

Key Achievements from COP16

COP16 largely sought to refine the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, a roadmap established in 2022 to provide the countries and subnational units with strategies to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Key outcomes from COP16 include:

• Adopting the action plan on biodiversity and health within the One Health Framework.

• Establishing the Cali Fund so that companies that profit off digitally accessed genetic resources can contribute funds for biodiversity conservation.

• Recognizing the role of Indigenous people in conservation and establishing a platform for their formal involvement in the Biodiversity Convention.

• Agreeing to establish a permanent funding mechanism to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework (a 30-year achievement).

• Emphasizing the need for countries to synergize their environmental work across the Biodiversity Convention and Climate Convention.

Looking Ahead to COP17

The next Biological Diversity Convention Conference is in 2026 in Armenia. While the US will likely continue to be an “observer” at the Convention, it will come down to states joining together in 2026 to protect biodiversity for generations to come. 

Visit NCEL’s Biodiversity Issue Page to learn more about state-led efforts to conserve nature as well as pending legislation across the country.