Biodiversity COP and Climate COP: what are they for?

Updated on 5 November 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, the future of the planet is at the heart of two COPs - Conferences of the Parties, organised by the United Nations and taking place back-to-back in November. COP 16 on Biodiversity takes place from 21 October to 1 November in Cali, Colombia, and COP 29 on Climate will be held from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the COPs have brought together states to negotiate and monitor the implementation of the conventions on Biodiversity (CBD), Climate (UNFCCC) and Desertification (UNCCD). The UNCCD will follow in December.

Conferences on the future of the planet

COP 16 on Biodiversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) must put in place international agreements to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. At the end of the previous conference in 2022, 196 countries signed the Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework in Montreal, which aims to protect at least 30% of the world's land, water and seas by 2030 and to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems .

Other objectives have been defined, such as halving the risk from pesticides, releasing 30 billion dollars in annual conservation aid for developing countries and mitigating the effects of climate change and ocean acidification on biodiversity through mitigation and adaptation measures and promoting the sustainable traditional practices of indigenous peoples.

Discussions at COP 16 will focus on the national action plans of signatory countries to achieve these objectives, as well as financing and benefit-sharing mechanisms for the use of genetic resources.

What are the results of COP 16?

The 16th Conference of the Parties on Biodiversity drew to a close on Saturday 2 November morning with a number of advances and disappointments :

The status of indigenous peoples and local communities has been strengthened and recognised by the creation of a permanent group to represent these "guardians of nature" within the CBD, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
The commercial use of plant and animal genetic sequences that are digitised and stored in databases by pharmaceutical, cosmetics or biotechnology companies will give rise to the creation of a fund that will collect 0.1% of their revenues or 1% of their profits, half of which will be paid to countries and half to indigenous peoples and local communities that care for nature. However, at the request of certain countries, including France, this payment will be voluntary and not compulsory.
Procedures for updating and identifying ecologically and biologically significant marine areas have been adopted.
Postponement of decisions on the financial resources to be mobilised and on the form to be taken by the monitoring indicators, as set out in the expectations of the conference .
The Global Biodiversity Facility (GBFF) has received pledges of almost $400 million - France is contributing €5 million - but this is still a long way short of the annual €200 billion expected to help biodiversity by 2030.
The developing countries have also failed to push for the creation of a new fund to replace the current Global Environment Facility, "which they consider inadequate and inequitable".
The Protected Planet 2024report produced by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows that only 8.4% of oceans and coastal areas and 17.6% of land and inland waters belong to protected areas, whereas the target of 30% by 2030 was announced at COP 15.

COP 29 on Climate

The central issue of financing for climate action by developing countries from the richest countries will be discussed, as well as the development of new commitments by States to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

What role does the ocean play in these conferences?

Whether we are talking about biological diversity or climate change, the importance of the ocean as a reservoir of biodiversity and as a climate regulator must be taken into account in international discussions and lead to measures to preserve marine ecosystems. Although addressed at two separate conferences, the preservation of biodiversity and the fight against climate change are linked.

An Ocean Day is scheduled for 27 October during COP 16. On this day, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) is organising a session on the role of the Decade of Ocean Sciences.

TheOcean pavilion will once again be offering parallel events during the COP Climate Conference. It brings together "world leaders in oceanography, engineering and policy to spread the message that the ocean matters to everyone, everywhere, and that science must lead the way in our quest for safe, long-term solutions to climate change. "

November 21 is officially dedicated to the ocean.