As the world now prepares to reconvene in Rome, Italy, from 25-27 February to conclude the COP16 negotiations, we are concerned that the world is not yet on track for the session to be a success. Resource mobilization is the single most important factor in determining whether the world’s ambitious targets for biodiversity will be met by 2030, and the only way that the COP will deliver an agreement will be through urgent increased engagement from ministers.
The failure to approve a resource mobilization strategy at COP16 would not only deliver a significant blow to efforts to curb the extinction crisis, but it would also significantly damage the credibility of countries’ capacity to drive multilateral action when it is most needed.
With so much at stake at the upcoming Rome negotiations, we call on ministers from governments around the world to engage with each other now to lead these negotiations to success. This critical work should not be left just to Colombia as COP President or the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat – it is the responsibility of every country that agreed to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022.
This call for ministerial leadership must then be made consistent. The COP16 2.0 Resource Mobilization Strategy must include a commitment to form a working group with ministers of finance and environment to ensure effective delivery of finance to nature. We have only five years to implement a hugely ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework. There is an urgent need to halt and reverse the rapid loss of biodiversity that we are witnessing around the world. High level leadership is imperative. The time to act is now.
