Biodiversity – the animals, plants, microbes, and ecosystems that surround us – is in free fall. Recently, close to 200 countries met for the biennial UN conference on biodiversity (referred to as CoP16) in Cali, Colombia to act on these challenges, and I had the opportunity to attend with the Oxford delegation. In this blog are some of my reflections on my experiences in Cali.
What is CoP16?
CoP16 is the 16th gathering Conference of the Parties to the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is dedicated to conserving biological diversity, using its components sustainably, and sharing the benefits derived from genetic resources equitably. 23,000 people from NGOs, private sector, academia, and groups representing perspectives from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), youth, and women attended, all of which held an array of side events and discussions.
CBD CoPs are often referred to as the ‘other CoP,’ the main CoP being the annual UNFCCC climate CoPs. One Politico article referred to biodiversity as 'climate’s less glitzy twin,' a sentiment that urgently needs to be overhauled but is unfortunately a common conception. If I can accomplish anything with my MBA, it is to stress to my peers, as future business leaders and people, and the business community that biodiversity loss poses an equal threat to human society as climate change and that the two challenges are inextricably linked. Beyond the existential imperative, we can connect to mountains and rainforests, to the birds migrating past our windows or charismatic species in faraway lands. We all have a role to play in protecting those very things. Plus, conserving biodiversity is simply the right thing to do for our shared evolutionary heritage and for the generations of all species to come.
Why was I at CoP16?
My goal at CoP16 was to follow the resource (funding) mobilization negotiations as well as get a pulse on how different sectors of businesses were participating in side events. Considering my background in international affairs, masters work on transboundary conservation, and the CoP’s theme of 'Paz con la Naturaleza,' or 'Peace with Nature,' I also closely followed discussions on environmental peacebuilding and diplomacy.
Less than CoPtimistic, but some progress to celebrate
Negotiations for this CoP concluded with mixed results. Full details can be found on the CoP16 website and in a recent Guardian article, but there were two major notes of progress: a new subsidiary body for IPLCs to consult on future CBD negotiations, and an agreement on digital sequence information (DSI), which signifies that companies that derive a certain value of revenue from genetic biodiversity in nature may contribute a portion of their profits to conservation. However, negotiations ran too long and lost quorum due to flight schedules, so there is no consensus on how to monitor GBF targets or on how to mobilize the funding needed. This leaves implementation in limbo until the parties reconvene next year.
Businesses making peace with nature?
Around 3,000 delegates from business and finance attended, all eager to communicate how they are working to address this crisis. I couldn’t attend nearly enough events to be comprehensive, but below is a thin slice of how different sectors showed up:
Venture Capital
VCs for biodiversity are new to the scene and their roles included moderating panels, discussing their investment strategies, and highlighting some of their ventures. Founders are bringing together different experiences on conservation front lines, tech, consulting, and more to address challenges around disclosures, ocean mapping, designing 'biocorridors,' and carbon credits, just to name a few. VC for biodiversity is still nascent, but the ideas are percolating. Other start-up presence was dominated by the launch of multiple new currencies to allow individuals and businesses to commodify and invest in nature. There’s much to still test and shape in implementing successful ‘units’ of nature that are available for purchase. Watch this space.
Social Enterprise
Social enterprises were also present, discussing their business structures as well as topics ranging from collaboration with IPLCs and the intersection of social and ecological issues to the codification of ‘ecocide’ in law. One thing that stood out to me was the essential role of these new business models to push for change to status quo without the traditional mandate of maximizing shareholder returns.
Finance
Countries have (or will be) developing biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), which all require significant funding. Creative funding sources was a nearly ubiquitous topic, covering CSR funds, green/blue bonds, debt for nature swaps, and biodiversity credits to name but a few – see a more complete list from the Biodiversity Finance Initiative.
Attendees emphasized how the financial sector can shift the flow of capital away from nature-negative activities, such as extractive mining or intensive agriculture towards more nature-positive activities. Many of these projects are best suited to patient investors with long time horizons and accepting of lower returns. Banks present at CoP were engaged in this shift, designing solutions to provide capital to those least able to access it, working with NGOs to establish trust in communities, and mobilizing local communities to increase resilience to climate and nature risks.
Corporates
Corporates of different industries were represented in panels featuring business nature-related impact and risk disclosure processes, shared experiences in supply chain transparency, and discussed science-based target validation. All sectors had some representation, with increasing presence from the insurance and actuarial industries. Measurement was a key focus here. Oil and gas companies spoke about how they are mitigating and offsetting their biodiversity and human rights impacts, such as through biodiversity credits in Papua New Guinea and reforestation in Canada, or where IPLCs have teamed up with them for implementation.
Consulting
Many professional services firms had a presence at this CoP. Their roles were primarily in facilitating conversations and speaking about their experience advising on disclosures, nature-positive strategies, technology, and metrics across different sectors.
Other Cross-Cutting Themes & Challenges
Metrics
Finding and implementing the right metrics to measure biodiversity continues to be a challenge. This choice depends on what kind of biodiversity an organization would like to measure, and there is a dizzying array of options. This paralyzes meaningful action, and there is consensus that companies should act with the best available data and metrics and iterate on the process.
Consumption & Certifications
Regenerative agriculture was a hot topic, though I unfortunately was unable to attend many sessions on this critical area. Farmers are evidently on the frontlines of climate change, loss of genetic diversity, and subsidy reform. They also have some of the greatest potential opportunities through regenerative farming. One less common but interesting thread of discussion was about how well-designed ecolabels and certifications can nudge consumers towards better purchasing choices from within our current economic system.
The goal is to bridge the information gap so consumers can make choices more in line with certain values. Governments can also adopt those principles to drive change across national procurement strategies.
Privately owned resources
A new area of interest concerns how other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), which may include terrestrial, freshwater, and marine spaces owned by companies, can contribute to nature conservation targets. This is an emerging concept that could potentially channel more support to conservation efforts and stewards outside of protected areas. Lots more to come on this topic.
Technology
There was lots of excitement on technological innovation in data architecture, earth monitoring, and AI for nature. There was an overwhelming number of products on display, and nature tech is evolving to encompass bioregional and social contexts in product design. Tech will likely continue to proliferate, but an important thing to remember is that tech is an enabler, not a surefire solution. Governance, stakeholder alignment, and accountability are all essential to maximizing tech’s potential for biodiversity.
Overall, I was incredibly lucky to meet so many people who have found their life’s purpose in bringing nature into the business sphere. Businesses were trying to lead and fill gaps where the public sector and international community have been hamstrung by negotiations or national constraints. Partnerships were formed through casual conversation that would have very rarely materialized without the CoP backdrop.
The most fruitful sessions I attended offered diverse viewpoints and took a stance. Usually, this was a topic currently under debate or connected to a more values-based conversation, such as biodiversity credits, the impact of climate geoengineering on nature, integral ecology, private conservation areas, and quantifying the carbon sequestration potential of wildlife to marry up the climate and biodiversity agendas. Their points sparked debate, but they challenged the status quo or offered something novel. They did not fall into the consistently vague refrain calling for better metrics, data, regulations, or subsidy reform. Most people at CoP know about these high-level problems, but many events on the intersection of business and biodiversity struck this vague chord. High-level examples and report summaries are helpful, but most effective when the presenter can deliver unique takeaways and open dialogue that would not have been possible from online resources. Some sessions did so effectively, but many I attended fell short of offering such insights.
We can learn just as much from our failures as from our successes. It is critical we are honest, tangible, and collaborative with each other about what is working and what is not. Most people present at CoPs know there are data issues in understanding the web of life – what would be more insightful is sharing exactly what data is missing for certain cases and why.
Stakeholder inclusion is challenging; where has it gone right or wrong, and what lessons can we extrapolate? Which subsidies can be practically be reformed, how, and what are the impacts on industry and people? What must the nature-positive workforce of the future look like, and how do we incentivize people to work in it? We need more vulnerable conversations around these questions, as CoP is an unparalleled crowdsourcing of ideas and changemakers that can put these thoughts into action.
Nature doesn’t need us – we need nature
One of the calls to action I heard in Cali (not necessarily from businesses) was that 'nature needs us.' The intention behind this statement rings true, but its implications are rather radical. Evidence points to the opposite – we need nature. Without the industrialized, globalized, and commercialized version of humanity we have built and on which most of our businesses are founded, nature would thrive, as we saw in the remarkable recovery ecosystems made during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Yet, without biodiversity, 100% of human society faces collapse, every business risks disintegration, and humanity will not be able to meet our climate goals.
Not one among us is separate from biodiversity. The 'nature needs us' statement is incomplete; rather, nature needs us to reconnect to older value systems that recognize the need for harmonious relationships in natural systems. IPLCs have retained those understandings in much of the world. It is imperative our human worldviews unite to preserve these ways of knowing and reinstate cultures of reciprocity and gratitude. We have spent so much effort making the business case for nature, which is important, but these efforts must be fused with the soul of nature and cultural conservation. Without addressing the root cause of our current biodiversity and climate crises, we risk relying on false solutions and reproducing problems in unpredictable ways.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, I’d like to echo the calls the rest of the Oxford delegation and the Academia & Research caucus for policymakers and businesses to engage the best available science. There is an astounding amount of knowledge and critical thought I’ve been exposed to in my time at Oxford that is still not being realized in practice.
Businesses must also take the theme of this conference, ‘peace with nature,’ to heart. The world of business has, for too long, seen profit and protection of nature as inherently in conflict. The implication is that humans must sacrifice some benefit to preserve nature, but it is not such a zero-sum game. Colombia and the Caleños of Cali are no stranger to peacemaking and have much to teach us about reconciliation, healing, and resilience.
Through iterations of compromises and negotiations, we were welcomed into this beautiful city and the cloud-forested environs high above it to see how far they have come. Lasting peace must address the root cause of the symptoms and takes decades of trust to build, but Cali embodies the progress that can be made in continuously striving for common good. Similarly, I believe nature is open to making amends with us and our human quest for wealth and growth – if only we answer its call for change and embrace the iterative process of reforging our relationship with biodiversity.
Such peace also hinges on governments. In a time of increasing nationalization and polarization, I fear my country and others will make myopic decisions for short-term gain that will comprise our long-term humanity and ability to ‘continue playing the game,’ as author Richard Powers so simply phrased it in a recent appearance on campus. Though CoP negotiations can be tedious, semantic debates over bracketed text, what happens in those chambers is the most essential articulation of national values. Agreements are necessary for governments to implement a coherent set of enabling conditions that businesses need to answer nature’s call.
The answer to all of this, it seems, lies in recognizing and ferociously protecting nature’s right to continue and flourish, just as we should for all people who coexist with nature. All these efforts will be facilitated once humans recognize the place nature already has at the table charged with creating humanity’s future.
Each of us – whether a business leader, government representative, or citizen – has a role to play in either exacerbating or improving the challenges facing the tapestry of life as it becomes increasingly faded and frayed. With a balance of tenacity, connection, and humility, we must all choose to continue playing the game of life.
A heartfelt thank you to Audrey Wagner for organizing our delegation, leading the A&R caucus fearlessly, and extending the chance to attend CoP16 to me. Further gratitude goes to Saïd Business School and the School of Geography and Environment for their support and the academic exposure that helped make my presence more valuable.
