COP 16: Brazil strengthens its commitment to the environment and presents strategies for conservation of global biodiversity

Brazil will take part in COP 16, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, to be held from October 21 to November 1 in Cali, Colombia. The Conference is a United Nations treaty established during ECO-92 – the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. It is one of the most important international instruments related to the environment. It came into force in December 1993, and Brazil approved the text through Legislative Decree No. 2 of 1994. It was later ratified through Federal Decree No. 2,519 of March 16, 1998.

During the event, Brazil will play an important role in discussions on implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted at the last COP 15 in Canada. This will reinforce its position as one of the richest countries in biodiversity and its ambitious agenda focused on sustainable development and environmental protection.

Altogether, 23 goals were defined for 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, putting nature on a path towards recovery for the benefit of human beings and the planet, conserving and sustainably using biodiversity, and ensuring the fair and equitable distribution of the benefits of genetic resources. The GBF includes specific measures, such as placing 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030. It also contains proposals to increase funding for developing countries — one of the main points of controversy during the discussions.

"These conventions result from the advancement of science and knowledge and have allowed countries to agree that certain things must be done because human activities have immense consequences, both on the climate and biodiversity. Thus, the more time passes, the more we believe that there must be greater integration between these discussions — because, naturally, climate change is having a brutal impact on biodiversity," highlighted Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s secretary of Climate, Energy, and Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during an interview with the press on Thursday, October 17.

The Secretary of Biodiversity at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change [Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima/MMA], Rita Mesquita, stated that “it is important to highlight the enormous effort that has been made to resume social participation in the spaces where all these action plans, goals, and activities are defined and decided. To us, this is extremely gratifying,” she pointed out.

BASES - The convention is structured on three main bases: conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of biodiversity and its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from using genetic resources. It refers to biodiversity at three levels: ecosystems, species, and genetic resources. COP 16 also includes discussions regarding access to these resources and adequate transfer of relevant technologies through appropriate financing.

The summit on biological diversity encompasses everything that directly or indirectly refers to biodiversity – and thus functions as a kind of legal and political framework for several more specific environmental conventions and agreements, such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture; the Bonn Guidelines; the Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism and Biodiversity; the Addis Ababa Principles for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity; the Guidelines for the Prevention, Control, and Eradication of Invasive Alien Species; and the Principles and Guidelines of the Ecosystem Approach to Biodiversity Management. The Convention also negotiated an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing arising from this access, established thematic work programs, and led to several cross-cutting initiatives.

STRATEGIES — Brazil’s National Strategy and Action Plans for Biodiversity [Estratégia e Planos de Ação Nacionais para a Biodiversidade/EPANB] play a fundamental role as an integrated management tool for national actions aimed at conserving biodiversity and at the sustainable use of its components — as well as for promoting the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of biodiversity. EPANB serves as an essential instrument for monitoring the progress of Brazilian actions towards achieving the established goals, ensuring that the country fulfills its international commitments and promotes sustainable practices about biodiversity.

"Our National Strategy and Action Plans for Biodiversity — which involve conservation, sustainable use, and benefit-sharing — are where the discussion, negotiation, and coordination between the different sectors take place. The set of goals of the Global Framework is multisectoral and includes actions in practically all spheres of government. We need to build this great agreement, which is the great effort and the centrality that we are trying to bring to this review and new edition of EPANB," highlighted Secretary Mesquita.

She also explained that Brazil will take a series of initiatives to build exchanges, partnerships, and new understandings towards allowing other countries to benefit from the experience of the Brazilian action plan for the conference. "We have just approved our National Plan for the Recovery of Native Vegetation [Plano Nacional de Recuperação da Vegetação Nativa]. This plan covers all Brazilian biomes and is central to our Climate Plan [Plano Clima]. This is perhaps the biggest achievement we will make within the scope of the commitments we have undertaken," she said.

Reestablishing the National Biodiversity Committee [Comissão Nacional da Biodiversidade/Conabio] on Thursday is one of the strategic axes for placing social participation back into the debate. The committee is responsible for monitoring and guiding the implementation of national biodiversity policies and their instruments. It includes representatives from government agencies and civil society organizations that play a relevant role in the discussion, proposal, and implementation of national policies on biodiversity within the scope of their jurisdictions.

NEGOTIATIONS — Brazil’s agenda will include over 20 topics for debate, focusing on financing for biodiversity and digital sequencing of genetic resources. Minister Maria Angélica Ikeda, director of the Environment Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained that, within the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, it was defined that there would be 200 billion dollars in financing for biodiversity. A portion of this amount will go from developed countries to developing countries. "The target for 2025 is USD 20 billion, and by 2030, it should reach USD 30 billion. We are specifically talking about flows from developed countries or others that have decided to contribute to developing countries. A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development this year shows that we are still far from this target for developed countries. The report says that, in the bilateral flow from developed to developing countries, projects with biodiversity as their main objective have been falling, and the numbers are well below the USD 20 billion," she summarized.

In the specific case of digital genetic sequencing, the larger goal is to create a multilateral mechanism so that users of all the genetic codes spread across databases worldwide can find the best combination for the specific use of these codes. "The use of these codes, when they generate benefits, could enter a fund that will also benefit developing countries; these are the major themes for this COP," highlighted Maria Angélica Ikeda.