One Pacific – One People, One Ocean at CBD COP16.

16 October 2024, Apia, Samoa – The Pacific islands contain rich and vast biodiversity, and they hold responsibility over large proportions of global ecosystems, including about a third of all oceans and seas within national jurisdictions. However, Pacific biodiversity continues to face current and emerging threats creating challenges for building and ensuring sustainable and resilient island futures.

In the face of the mounting challenges, the Pacific has continued to show leadership through its commitment to mobilise individually and collectively to address the impacts of the triple planetary crisis, for which biodiversity loss is a growing concern. 

In the coming weeks, delegates from the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) will converge in Cali, Columbia for the Sixteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), from 21 October to 1 November 2024.
 
The CBD is a multilateral treaty that has three main goals, the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.  The CBD COP16 will bring together Heads of State, government leaders and officials, private sector, civil society, academics and youth to map the way forward for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
 
COP16 will be the first biodiversity COP since the adoption of ‘The Biodiversity Plan’ or the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and parties will be tasked with developing a framework for implementation and show alignment of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the framework.  

In the lead-up to COP16, Pacific countries with the support of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) gathered in Apia, Samoa for a preparatory meeting for COP where they identified key priority areas for the region. Some of which include, health, climate change, invasive alien species, mainstreaming of biodiversity across sectors, marine, coastal and island biodiversity. 

Vanuatu as the PSIDS Chair represented by Ms Rolenas Baereleo noted some of the key outcomes the Pacific will be seeking at COP16.  "We look forward to CBD COP16 increasing financing to help countries halt and reverse biodiversity loss, benefiting both people and nature. As small Island nations, we must balance livelihoods with policy commitments, as we cannot conserve all our land”.

“Additionally, we need clarity on headline indicators to effectively update our NBSAPs, streamline reporting, and show our commitment through accurate data collection and prioritisation," she said. 

Other regional priorities identified at the Pacific preparatory meeting includes mechanisms for planning, monitoring, reporting and review, resource mobilisation and financial mechanisms, and cooperation with international organisations and bodies established under other conventions. All of which are in alignment with the COP16 agenda. 

SPREP’s Director General, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, reiterated the importance of unified action under the CBD to conserve Pacific biodiversity. “Successful implementation of the GBF and other work under the Convention will require effectively harmonised, coherent action, mainstreamed across all sectors.”

“We must also consider other existing agreements and recognise the interconnectivity of ecosystems from highlands to high seas, for sustainable and resilient futures for all peoples and planet.”

COP16 is rapidly shaping up to be a high stakes meeting, biodiversity underpins all life on Earth and sustains all food systems that feed the world. The national commitments made to the GBF, and decisions made at COP16 will essentially shape the trajectory of our planet’s future. 

The Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) is held in Cali, Columbia from 21 October – 1 November 2024.  COP 16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP 15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Governments will be tasked with reviewing the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Parties to the Convention are expected to show the alignment of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the Framework.

Fourteen Pacific Islands countries are Party to the CBD, they are contributing to a unified One Pacific Voice on collective issues at COP16, these are Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Led by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), support to Pacific island countries has been implemented with technical input through the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC),  and includes a One Pacific approach with financial assistance from the Government of New Zealand and the ACP MEA Phase 3 Project funded by the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States for the ACP countries. 

For more information on the CBD COP16 please visit: https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2024 

Main photo: Omini island, Tailevu, Fiji © Stuart Chape 2022