To learn more, revisit our coverage of the Biodiversity COP16, COP29 and UNCCD COP16.
We’ve all heard about the climate COP – the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference that wrapped up in Baku, Azerbaijan, last month.
But every other year, the UN holds two other environmentally themed ‘COPs’ – one on biodiversity, the other on desertification. These conferences revolve around three treaties that are collectively known as the Rio Conventions, signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
The UN held its three Rio Convention conferences in quick succession, and our team was on scene to watch the events unfold.
Here’s what we saw at the Biodiversity COP16, COP29 and the UNCCD COP16 – and where it leaves us in the run up to next year’s COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
The 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) finished with several successes, but some key issues, such as financing, remain unresolved.
Held in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November, COP16 was the biggest biodiversity COP to date, with around 23,000 participants and more than a million Green Zone visitors.
The talks mainly focused on how to implement and finance the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was adopted at COP15 two years ago.
One of the most significant outcomes was the creation of a subsidiary body under Article 8(j) to ensure the participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Additionally, following much debate, Article 8(j) formally recognized Afro-descendant communities for their role in biodiversity conservation.
COP16 also saw the creation of the Cali Fund, a global mechanism to collect and manage funds generated from the use of digital sequence information (DSI) from genetic data.
This information can be used to create products such as pharmaceuticals. The mechanism aims to ensure fair benefit sharing with the communities and regions where the genetic resources originate.
Unfortunately, there was no agreement on funding the GBF, leaving a significant gap in the conference’s achievements.
A new global biodiversity fund was proposed, but negotiations failed to reach a consensus before delegates left. The issue will be revisited at a future meeting in early 2025 before Armenia hosts COP17 in 2026.
Eden Flaherty
In November, we moved on to Baku, Azerbaijan, which hosted the biggest COP of them all: the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).
But there was no big breakthrough to come, as all parties came away from the event disappointed with the outcome – those from the Global South especially.
Having arrived in Baku demanding USD 1.3 trillion in annual climate finance from rich countries, they came away with an offer of just USD 300 billion a year by 2035.
Widely condemned by country delegates and civil society alike, that figure wasn’t adjusted for inflation either, meaning it’s worth even less in real terms.
Still, with the U.S. expected to once again withdraw from the Paris Agreement as Donald Trump returns to the presidency, Global South countries were in no position to drive a hard bargain.
On the flip side, COP29 did see countries agree rules on how countries can create and trade carbon credits under article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.
As early as 2025, high-emitting countries will be able to start buying credits from other countries to offset their own emissions as part of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
But that was all that was achieved at COP29. Countries failed to reach any agreements on fossil fuel phaseout, mitigation, national adaptation plans or just transition, thanks in part to obstructionism by UNCCD COP16 hosts Saudi Arabia.
That leaves plenty of work for delegates to do at the next round of climate talks in Bonn, Germany, next June, ahead of COP30.
Ming Chun Tang
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 was the last of this year’s three COPs.
Held from 2–13 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this COP focused on a mid-term evaluation of the 2018–2030 UNCCD strategic framework and charting new avenues to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.
Key areas of focus included accelerating land restoration, enhancing drought resilience, positioning land at the center of sustainable development and strengthening women’s rights and access to land tenure.
The UNCCD COP16 achieved several milestones. Notably, like the Biodiversity COP16, countries reached a landmark decision to create a caucus for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Countries also emphasized the importance of addressing discrimination against women and girls when designing and implementing programs and policies to tackle land degradation and drought.
The private sector currently contributes just 6 percent of all financing for restoration and drought resilience, which countries sought to address by mandating the UNCCD secretariat to use the Business4Land initiative to attract private investment in sustainable land use.
Lastly, country delegates agreed to strengthen the role of science on land and drought by continuing the Convention’s Science-Policy Interface.
Despite these successes, the UNCCD COP also left a lot of loose ends. In terms of finance, parties mobilized just USD 12 billion to tackle desertification, drought and land degradation – compared to the USD 355 billion required annually by 2030.
Similarly, discussions around nature-positive food production only scraped the surface after delegates decided to hold off on discussing the phaseout of environmentally harmful subsidies, worth USD 500 billion annually.
Mongolia will host the next UN desertification conference, UNCCD COP17, in 2026.
By then, at the current rate, another 200 million hectares of land will have been degraded globally. Does failing forward actually count as progress when the cost of failure is this high?
Amos Amanubo
Finally…
…thank you for reading this story. Our mission is to make them freely accessible to everyone, no matter where they are.
We believe that lasting and impactful change starts with changing the way people think. That’s why we amplify the diverse voices the world needs to hear – from local restoration leaders to Indigenous communities and women who lead the way.
By supporting us, not only are you supporting the world’s largest knowledge-led platform devoted to sustainable and inclusive landscapes, but you’re also becoming a vital part of a global movement that’s working tirelessly to create a healthier world for us all.
Every donation counts – no matter the amount. Thank you for being a part of our mission.
