OECD at the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 (CBD COP16)

Conference

Date: 21 October - 1 November 2024
Location: Cali, Colombia

About

The OECD participated in the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 16) in Cali, Colombia from 21 October - 1 November 2024. Under the theme Peace with Nature, this was the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Check out our detailed programme to find out more about OECD participation at CBD COP16 sessions and events, as well as related work.

Engaging with the OECD at CBD COP16

Innovating for Nature and People in African Cities
11:45 – 12:45 pm (COT)| EU Pavilion
Host: Expertise France
In which ways can African cities portray innovative solutions for the implementation of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework? Cities are essential for achieving The Biodiversity Plan’s targets. Being closer to people, businesses and decision-makers, measures taken by local governments are relevant to the economic and finance sectors. Government officers at the local level are also more flexible to act as generalists. They tend to see problems and solutions in an integrated manner and are better positioned to contribute to the effective implementation of The Biodiversity Plan.
OECD speaker: Jorge Patiño, Junior Geographical Scientist, Sahel and West Africa Club
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Application of GEO data for biodiversity conservation
8:30 - 9:30 (COT) | EU Pavilion
Host: Copernicus
Partners: Copernicus LAC Panama Centre
Earth observation (GEO) data providers and users discussed the potential of using GEO data for biodiversity conservation. This session promoted interaction between data providers and users and uncovers challenges and enablers of using data to support biodiversity conservation and restoration.
OECD speaker: Jorge Patiño, Junior Geographical Scientist, Sahel and West Africa Club
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Gold traceability: challenges and opportunities to promote an environmentally and socially sustainable mining sector
14:00-15:30 (COT) | United Nations pavilion Centro Eventos Valle del Pacifico (Zona Azul)
Host: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
In the framework of the fight against illegality in the different stages of gold supply chains, this event sought to offer attendees a discussion on the traceability of gold as a mechanism to ensure a socially and environmentally responsible economy.
OECD speaker: Luca Maiotti, Policy Analyst, Extractives, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct

UN Hub: Building synergies between the three Rio Conventions
15:00-16:00 (COT) | Venue: UN hub, Blue Zone
Hosts: UNCBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD
Co-host: OECD
Efforts to integrate the implementation of the three Rio conventions, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), offer potential opportunities to streamline processes and deliver transformative results. In 2023, the presidents of CBD COP15, UNCCD COP15, and UNFCCC COP27 published a joint statement to highlight the importance of joint actions to achieve the interlinked objectives of the three Conventions. It is in this spirit that the Rio Conventions Joint Capacity-building Programme was set up to enhance coordination and coherence in the implementation of the three Rio Conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
OECD speaker: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

Achieving Target 23: Identifying effective approaches for the gender-responsive implementation of the KM-GBF
16:00 – 17:30 (COT) | CGIAR Pavilion
Host: Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Co-hosts: CBD Women's Caucus, CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform, GIZ, NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, OECD, UNDP, UNEP, UNEP-WCMC
Gender equality and biodiversity use, management, and conservation are strongly interconnected. Globally, women and girls in all their diversity, and particularly those from Indigenous Peoples and local communities, rely on healthy ecosystems and play vital roles in the management and conservation of biodiversity. Yet, gender inequalities limit women’s rights to land and resources, access to decision-making processes, and access to benefits derived from the use of biodiversity. Redressing gender inequalities is crucial for achieving long-term goals on biodiversity and the CBD’s 2050 Vision of Living in Harmony with Nature. This session presented examples of effective approaches and means for implementing the Gender Plan of Action, as demonstrated through the experience of diverse stakeholders, and offered an opportunity to launch a policy brief that provides recommendations to support Parties to the CBD in the gender-responsive implementation of the KM-GBF.
OECD speaker: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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Official CBD side event on GBF Target 18 Master class: Assessing biodiversity impacts of public financial incentives
16:30 – 17:50 (COT) | Room: Sumapaz - JUSCANZ meeting room - Plaza One
Host: Netherlands
Co-hosts: Finland, UNDP BIOFIN, OECD
Global biodiversity levels are declining at an alarming rate. In our effort to bring further actions to halt biodiversity loss, the Netherlands, together with other countries and partners, has committed itself to reach Target 18 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In this event, the Netherlands, along with other countries such as Finland that have initiated efforts to meet target 18, shared their best practices on designing a methodology and further actions to meet target 18. It also highlighted recent reports on these issues from the OECD and BIOFIN. The event aimed to inspire national governments to act on target 18 by providing them with hands-on experiences and best practices on how to develop a methodology for assessing financial public incentives detrimental and beneficial to biodiversity and get concrete actions and implementation done.
OECD speaker: Katia Karousakis, Biodiversity Team Lead, Environment Directorate

Financiamiento Directo y Flujos Financieros Específicos para Pueblos Indígenas: importancia de desarrollar mecanismos financieros autónomos gestionados y administrados por los Pueblos Indígenas
18:00-19:00 | Pacifico - Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities meeting room, Plaza One, Blue Zone
Hosts: ONIC, OPIAC , RFN, MADS
This side event, jointly organised by the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC) and the National Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC), with the support of Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN), focused on the critical importance of establishing autonomous financial mechanisms for Indigenous Peoples. Through interactive discussions and case studies, the event explored how direct and targeted funding can strengthen indigenous governance and contribute to sustainable biodiversity conservation.
OECD speaker: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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Artisanal and Small-scale mining: Risks and opportunities for biodiversity conservations
09:15-10:00 (COT) | Cali Chamber of Commerce (Zona Verde)
Host: Alliance for Responsible Mining
This session aimed to analyse the relationship between artisanal and small-scale mining and biodiversity, combining two important objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework: reducing threats to biodiversity and meeting people's needs through sustainable use and benefit sharing. The aim was to take a systemic and comprehensive look at the problem, analysing the context and role of global supply chains, legislation and public policies, listening carefully to the voices of the territories.
OECD speaker: Luca Maiotti, Policy Analyst, Extractives, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct

7th Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) opening plenary on "Mobilising the billions: Pathways to achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework"
09:15 – 10:45 am (COT) | Museo La Tertulia, Cali
The opening plenary set the stage for the 7th GLF Investment Case Symposium by addressing the critical challenge of mobilising $200 billion annually to support the Global Biodiversity Framework. High-level panellists from various sectors discussed the financial hurdles and innovative solutions needed to meet this ambitious goal. The conversation explored how different stakeholders can contribute to this effort, with particular attention to ensuring that funding reaches local communities and Indigenous peoples, who are often on the frontlines of biodiversity conservation. Following the panel discussion, a Dragons' Den session featured three innovative biodiversity investment projects pitching their ideas to a panel of expert judges, showcasing tangible pathways to mobilizing the necessary funds.
OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
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CBD COP-16 Workshop on Nature Finance Tracking: Lessons from Multilateral Development Banks
8:30-11:00 (COT) | MDB Pavilion
Host: MDB Nature Working Group
The Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) stresses the importance of mobilising finance from all sources to accelerate implementation of its four goals and 23 targets, which chart a pathway to the 2030 mission of ‘halting and reversing nature loss’ and the 2050 vision of ‘living in harmony with nature’. Target 19 seeks to mobilize US$200 billion per year, including US$30 billion through international finance. To support the implementation of the GBF, and in line with their commitment to develop tools and methodologies for tracking nature-positive investments outlined in the MDB Joint Statement on Nature, People, and Planet, the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have developed Common Principles for Tracking Nature-Positive Finance. These Principles are guiding MDBs in developing and piloting nature finance tracking in their respective institutions. The workshop at COP-16 was an opportunity for MDBs to share the progress from the piloting with the key donors, partners, and NGOs advancing the nature finance agenda. This included sharing lessons from identifying nature finance that captures the full range of investments that contribute to the GBF, including those that support the broader economic transition toward nature-positive practices.
OECD speaker: Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

Official CBD side event on The Montpellier Process: Pooling Collective Intelligence for Action. Scaling dialogue for strengthened Science-Policy-Society interfaces
13:20-14:40 (COT) | Room: Sierra Nevada - Working Group II
Evidence based action touching on multiple global goals requires pooled collective intelligence and rethinking engagements between science, policy, and action. Through the Montpellier Process we invited actors from cities, national governments, and trade on the front line of implementing food system interventions to share successes and challenges in using available science to achieve global goals including those articulated in the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF).
OECD speaker: Lee Ann Jackson, Head of Division, Agro-food Trade and Markets
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Artisanal and Small-scale mining: Risks and opportunities for biodiversity conservations
15:00-16:00 (COT) | Colombia pavilion Centro Eventos Valle del Pacifico (Zona Azul)
Host: Alliance for Responsible Mining
The session analysed the relationship between artisanal and small-scale mining and biodiversity, combining two important objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework: reducing threats to biodiversity and meeting people's needs through sustainable use and benefit sharing. The aim was to take a systemic and comprehensive look at the problem, analysing the context and role of global supply chains, legislation and public policies, listening carefully to the voices of the territories.
OECD speaker: Luca Maiotti, Policy Analyst, Extractives, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct

UNCTAD Trade Day Session 3: Trade Commodities with a focus on terrestrial ecosystems
11:30 – 12:30 (COT) | Centro de Eventos Valle Del Pacífico
Trade Day at CBD COP16 aimed to facilitate and advance discussions among negotiators and stakeholders on potential pathways, best practices and solutions for trade and trade-related policies to address biodiversity loss and implement the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). It also aimed to draw attention to biodiversity protection and restoration as well as sustainable and inclusive development.
OECD speaker: Lee Ann Jackson, Head of Division, Agro-food Trade and Markets
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World Biodiversity Summit – Session on The Road to $200 Billion: Finance Strategies for Biodiversity Action
16:00 – 16:45 (COT) | MUSEO - Museo La Tertulia
To close the nature finance gap and ensure we can meet the 2030 Vision for biodiversity, the Global Biodiversity Framework Target 19 calls for mobilising $200 billion per year. In what ways can nature-focused regulations contribute to achieving Target 19? How can financial innovation accelerate biodiversity conservation? The session gathered finance pioneers disclosing the most prominent strategies to fulfil biodiversity goals and close the nature funding gap through strategic investments and partnerships.
OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
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One Ocean Finance platform: emerging pathways for large-scale ocean finance
09:00-10:30 | #ForCoral pavilion, Blue Zone
Host: UNCDF
The discussion built upon lessons learned, and comparative best practices of financial mechanisms implemented through a wide range of thematic priorities including health, climate, and forest conservation, while aiming to contribute to the conceptualization of global financing vehicles tapping private sector channels. With the engagement and feedback from your selected delegate, it aimed to facilitate a transformational flow of development finance through South-North collaboration.
OECD speaker: Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

Shaping the future of bioeconomy as an economic sector
12:00-13:00 (COT) | Amazonia Siempre Pavilion, Blue Zone
Host: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Resource Institute
(WRI), and the Pan-Amazon Network for Bioeconomy
The event focused on strategic elements (definition, methods, policies, roadblocks) to recognize and integrate bioeconomy as an economic sector formally within the Amazonian countries and beyond, escalating its importance in national and regional economic planning.
OECD speaker: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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Business and Biodiversity Forum panel session on Financing Biodiversity – Deep Dive on Targets 18 and 19
14:00- 15:00 (COT) | Room Sierra Nevada, WG2 (Blue Zone)
This event focused on aligning financial flows with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), specifically addressing Targets 18 and 19. Target 18 emphasizes the need for integrating biodiversity considerations into financial institutions' policies, while Target 19 aims to mobilize diverse financial resources for biodiversity conservation. The discussion explored current financial practices, identify barriers to alignment, and highlight innovative solutions and successful case studies. Panelists shared insights on overcoming challenges and recommend actionable steps to enhance the effectiveness of financial investments in biodiversity.
OECD speaker: Edward Perry, Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate

Biodiversity and Finance Day - Fireside chat "Nature as a Climate Solution: Instruments and Call to Action for the Public and Private Sectors"
12:00 – 12:40 pm (COT)| Room Malpelo
As the global community transitions from agreement to action, aligning financial investments with the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will be essential for its successful implementation. The Finance Day facilitated a multi-sectoral dialogue aimed at further integrating biodiversity considerations into national planning and financing efforts. It also provided a platform for ministers and key leaders from multilateral and development banks, financial institutions, international organisations, regulatory bodies, and civil society to explore how financial resources can be mobilised to support the Framework's implementation.
Hosts: CBD Secretariat, together with the Government of the Republic of Colombia, and in collaboration with the Coalition of Ministers of Finance for Climate Action, the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and the World Bank Group.
OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate

Montpellier Process – International Trade Policy Side Event
18:00-19:15 (COT) | Netherlands pavilion
Actions to enable systems transformation: agriculture trade policy connecting local to global and back again.
OECD speaker: Lee Ann Jackson, Head of Division, Agro-food Trade and Markets

Official CBD side event on Biodiversity-related risks to the financial sector: What Central Banks can do to facilitate the reduction of nature-related financial risks?
13:20- 14:40 (COT) | Mavecure - Business and Industry Organizations meeting room, Plaza One
Host: Hungarian Central Bank (MNB) and Ministry of Agriculture
Co-host: OECD
How can we translate biodiversity risks into financial risks? Could we create a common baseline both conceptually and methodologically, acknowledging different national circumstances? How could it be applicable for central banks, supervisors and commercial banks across different countries, and yet channel the findings into decision-ready policy messages?
A growing number of financial authorities have been considering whether risks stemming from biodiversity loss are relevant from a financial risk perspective and what are the potential implications. The question is no longer if and why, the question is rather what types of risks will materialize, for who, how and when.
This COP16 official side event aimedto:
• Go beyond sharing the outcomes of this unique project,
• Provide the perspective of a Central Europe based Central Bank,
• Inspire any other financial institution or government authority, as well as market participant that face challenges regarding how to begin to identify, assess, and manage nature-related financial risks,
• Create a platform for knowledge sharing on TNFD reporting as well, and will be deemed useful for any financial authority, commercial bank, or business that plan to embark on this journey and strives to prepare a biodiversity related disclosure.
OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
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The need for environmental and social due diligence on strategic minerals (with emphasis on gold and tin, tungsten and tantalum)
15:00-16:00 (COT)| Colombia pavilion Centro Eventos Valle del Pacifico (Zona Azul)
Host: Colombian Ministry of Environment
The global energy and digital transition has increased the global demand for strategic minerals. However, exploration, extraction, processing and trade of these minerals generate environmental, social and political impacts. In the environmental sphere, land use change generates soil and water degradation and contamination, deforestation, becoming drivers of the loss of biodiversity, ecosystems and health. Likewise, the lack of mining regulation in and between countries is exploited by transnational criminal structures, strengthening parallel and illegal economies that are additionally based on the violation of human rights with armed structures, using child labor, gender violence and labor informality, generating landscapes of environmental and social degradation.
This panel focused on environmental and social due diligence, which is at the centre of a proposal for a global agreement on mineral trade. Participants better understood the role of buyers in: 1) preventing illegality in mining production and commercialization, 2) minimizing environmental and social risks, 3) guaranteeing legal and clean supplies, and 4) maximizing social and environmental benefits and fairness in their distribution. The panel also discussed how to balance compliance with the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Framework and the protection of human rights to achieve environmental justice with the benefit of populations and the economic development of producing countries.
OECD speaker: Luca Maiotti, Policy Analyst, Extractives, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct

Creating Enabling Conditions for Gender-Responsive Biodiversity Implementation
16:00-17:00 (COT) | CBD Women Forum
Host: Colombia, CBD Secretariat, CBD Women’s Caucus
The contributions of women and girls to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is central, crucial and indispensable. Women and girls continue to bear a disproportionate burden from the adverse impacts of biodiversity loss, and despite some increased understanding of these dynamics having been acquired over recent years, gender-responsive approaches need further work to be fully integrated into the processes of formulating, implementing and evaluating policies and actions at all levels.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Framework) places great emphasis on gender considerations. The “successful implementation of the Framework will depend on ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, and on reducing inequalities” (COP decision 15/4, Section C). Target 23 of the Framework aims to ensure gender equality in the implementation through a gender-responsive approach where women and girls have equal opportunity and capacity to contribute to the three objectives of the Convention. Furthermore, COP decision 15/11 adopted a Gender Plan of Action (2022-2030) as a tool that can guide Parties to implement the Framework and take concrete actions aimed at enabling women and girls to be empowered o ensure that their contributions towards the implementation of the three objectives of the Convention can be fully supported and accounted for.
Against this background, the Government of Colombia, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the CBD Women’s Caucus organised the Women Forum held on 25 October (Part 1) and 29th (Part 2) as part of the official program of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16).
OECD speaker: Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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Official CBD side event on Scaling Up Finance and Incentives for Biodiversity
18:00- 19:00 (COT) | Room Nuqui - Academia & Research meeting room, Plaza One
Hosts: OECD (ENV/DCD), World Bank, IFAD, Colombia, EU and the UK
To halt and reverse global biodiversity loss, countries will need to scale up biodiversity-positive incentives and mobilise additional finance for the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of biodiversity. Market incentives for producers and consumers tend to promote biodiversity's decline rather than its sustainable use. Finance flows for biodiversity fall grossly short of financing needs.
With the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Strategy, governments committed to scaling up positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (target 18) and to mobilising USD 200 billion per year for biodiversity from all sources, including USD 30 billion through international financial resources from developed countries, encompassing official development assistance (ODA), and from countries that voluntarily assume obligations of developed countries, to developing countries by 2030 (target 19). These are two closely linked targets, as positive incentives can contribute to the achievement of target 19 by mobilising public and private finance. With just six years to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss, the world must move swiftly to align economic incentives and scale up finance for biodiversity.
Bringing together a range of insights from both international organisations and countries, this event presented the latest data and trends on incentives and finance for biodiversity, including the role of development co-operation and biodiversity-related development finance. It showcased latest initiatives, and highlighted insights on barriers and opportunities for scaling up biodiversity-positive incentives and finance, domestically and internationally, to meet targets 18 and 19 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
OECD speakers:
Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
Edward Perry, Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate
Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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Global Commitment on a Global Agreement on Mineral Supply Chain Due Diligence
18:00-19:30 (COT)| Colombia pavilion Centro Eventos Valle del Pacifico (Zona Azul)
Host: Colombian Ministry of Environment
This session aimed to provide additional context on the issue of biodiversity and ecosystem loss due to extractive sector and discuss progress and gaps in the implementation of responsible business conduct in mineral supply chains. The session presented a roadmap for a voluntary agreement on due diligence in mineral supply chains from COP16 on Biodiversity with a view to COP30, and sought to generate commitments towards the implementation of the roadmap.
OECD speaker: Allan Jorgensen, Head of Division, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct (virtual); Luca Maiotti, Policy Analyst, Extractives, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
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Engaging with the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) at CBD COP16

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OECD at the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 (CBD COP16)

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Engaging with the OECD at CBD COP16

Engaging with the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) at CBD COP16

Tracking economic instruments and finance for biodiversity

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