COP16: The Negotiations Begin

Today was my first full day at COP16 and there was already a lot of learnings to be gained in the experience.

To being with, I attended a press conference advocating a human rights-based approach for biodiversity and climate action. The speakers reminded us to not neglect Indigenous Peoples and not ignore local communities. There was a call on Parties to remember that it is their responsibility to remember and take action that is necessary. The CBD Secretariat was part of this press conference and spoke of recognizing the role of women, youth, and members of the world particularly vulnerable to biodiversity loss. Human rights-based approaches aren't new, but we need to ensure now that they are truly a part of implementation. "Here we are enabling the enablers." We must ensure that those who have the power are doing the right things and are brought to the table. However, there was no mention by the Secretariat of those who do not have power. Shouldn't they be at the table to be heard as well?

The next press conference was with the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) about Indigenous Peoples’ aspirations and expectations for COP16. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) has many unprecedented elements, but Indigenous Peoples need to be at the centre of the approach, with rights and equal participation in decision-making, as well as recognition of Indigenous knowledges and traditions. Extraction of resources equals no peace with nature and space must be provided for Indigenous women and youth. Indigenous Peoples are the best guardians for biodiversity. There was an interesting point, where one speaker discussed adopting Digital Sequencing Information (DSI), which breaks the holistic view of Indigenous Peoples, but they believe that it still must be done, provided that Indigenous communities are the primary beneficiaries of the fund and also recognized as the primary source of knowledge. Indigenous people are the guardians of nature and Indigenous governance must be embedded into the fund itself.

Another press conference from the CBD Women’s Caucus featured the group listing their demands for COP16. They acknowledged that the KMGBF recognizes the importance of gender, but most important now is how this will be measurable and how Parties will be held accountable. According to the Caucus, resources should go directly to women of the grassroots, with full and effective participation of women and girls. Gender-responsive action and full participation is necessary in order to reach Target 23. With respect to resource mobilization, funds must be made directly accessible for women and youth on the ground. The Caucus insists upon full and direct answers to funding, without external actors, and rejects non-nature based solutions, as well as private monetary frameworks. Gender Justice should be at the centre of all decisions and negotiations. The Gender Plan of Action created at COP15 indicates a clear implementation plan for Target 23 and there should be no excuse for an inability to implement. I look forward to the Women Forum on the 25th and the 29th.

After the press conferences, I attended a panel for Indicator Methodology to Measure National Implementation of the Gender Plan of Action hosted by Women4Biodiversity (W4B). The Gender Action Plan for achieving Target 23 is innovative, but there are gaps in terms of measures and implementation of those actions. There is an indicator included in the plan, but it is a binary indicator and lacks a methodology, calculating only the number of countries with legal, administrative or policy frameworks. The indicator introduced by W4B includes metadata and a calculation tool. The calculator allows anyone to see progress for each action and which areas need further work. There are currently missing pieces between implementation of the KMGBF and Target 23, many parties have plans that do not consider gender at all. The W4B indicator not only supports better implementation of Target 23 but also allows Parties to see the interconnectedness of other targets. Parties need to not only have women involved but also specifically include gender specialists in the development of their NBSAPs because they will look at the interconnectedness of all the other 22 Targets through a gender lens. Bhutan adopted the methodology and recommends that Parties at least test it to see where they stand. Most countries categorically answer questions about gender without actually knowing and the numbers from this indicator do not lie. This indicator allows Parties to challenge themselves to monitor their progress and see what further work needs to be done. The panel also touched upon the subject of resource extraction and how it is related to gender violence. This is currently not a part of the indicator, but W4B is asking for details of actions; drivers of violence need to be encountered and confronted. This gender step at the global level is a small step, but it is a start.

The last event I attended on Day 1 was the first meeting of Working Group 1, whose purpose was to come to an agreement on Article 8(j), resource mobilization and financial mechanisms, and DSI on genetic resources. So little was accomplished during the three hours allotted to the point where the chair asked that only Parties be allowed to speak. The chair also asked the Parties to not discuss content until contact groups later that evening, a request that was largely ignored. Five simultaneous contact groups were being formed for the purpose of these discussions, but certain Parties brought up that they would have to prioritize the changes they wanted to make because they could not be in five or even two places at once. Several parties also said they were unprepared to discuss certain documents. This raises the interesting question of whether voices will be equitably heard in the negotiation process to come to agreements on all of the documents.

It will be interesting to follow the work of this Working Group to determine what outcome will be developed at the end of COP16 and how they arrived at this point.