PML at the Convention on Biological Diversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia

Monday 21 October 2024 - Friday 1 November 2024

Location: Cali, Colombia

PML ocean-biodiversity-climate experts will take part in the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Columbia. Governments from around the world will be tasked at COP16 with reviewing the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the historical agreement and outcome of COP15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. COP16 will include a high-level ministerial segment.

The ocean cuts across nearly all elements of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and is also a critical cross-cutting element of nearly all aspects of work under the CBD. The COP16 provides an opportunity for Parties and observers to convene and engage in a wide range of summits, forums, fairs, pavilions and side-events that enrich the formal discussions of the meetings. Just a few examples of activities include:

• The Chile Pavilion, Blue Zone, Tuesday 22 October 15:30 – 17:00, side event ‘Blue Thread: Aligning National Climate and Biodiversity Strategies’ co-organised by PML with the Ocean & Climate Platform (lead), Blue Marine Foundation, IUCN, Ørsted, The Nature Conservancy, UNSW and WWF. The event will explore how the ocean can provide integrated solutions to address the climate and biodiversity crises as one, weaving a ‘blue thread‘ across the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Discover the programme here.
• The 2024 Biodiversity Technology and Innovation Expo, Blue Zone, 24-26 October, where you can meet with PML’s Dr Claire Szostek and find out more about PML’s work on this topic, including on environmental DNA (eDNA) developments and AI. PML is a co-host of the exhibition stand which is being coordinated by POGO, further details can be found here
• The GEO BON Pavilion, Blue Zone, Friday 25 October 10:00-11:30 where PML is an event partner in the session on ‘Observing biology and ecosystems in the ocean for effective biodiversity conservation’ with Dr Claire Szostek presenting on ‘Advancing global observations, tools and capacity building in response to the global climate and biodiversity crises’. You fan find speaker bios and the full programme here.
• The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Pavilion – Ocean Day Sunday 27 October, a full day of ocean focused programme for which you can join the livestream here

This in addition to a number of publications with PML contributors launched at and around the COP16, such as the policy briefings ‘Bridging global climate and biodiversity strategies’ and ‘Ocean acidification and biodiversity loss’ amongst others.

Parties to the Convention are expected to show the alignment of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the Framework. COP 16 will further develop the monitoring framework and advance resource mobilization for the Global Biodiversity Framework. Among other tasks, COP 16 is also due to finalize and operationalize the multilateral mechanism on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.

PML experts are playing an active role towards the implementation of the framework agreement, which comprises, among other things, a set of headline, binary, component and complementary indicators. For example, our Director of Science, Professor Steve Widdicombe is a member of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG), with a time-bound mandate until the sixteenth meeting of the COP, to advise on the further operationalization of the monitoring framework.

Informing biodiversity restoration is at the heart of what we do at PML and we are unique in our capability to link laboratory and field studies, satellite observations, physical and ecosystem modelling and socio-economics.

Our work includes documenting changes in marine biodiversity from genes to ecosystems, to understand the causes of changes, to predict changes in the future, to understand the consequences of biodiversity loss both for marine life and for people and to use this knowledge to inform policy. For example, satellite-derived ocean front maps generated by PML informed the Convention on Biological Diversity on setting scientific criteria for Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, supporting the designation of national and international areas for the protection of large mobile marine species.

To find out more contact our Biodiversity Science-to-Impact Lead Dr Claire Szostek or Deputy of our International Office Thecla Keizer.