Reflections after COP 15 in relation to business and finance
Matt Jones, Head of Nature Economy at UNEP-WCMC, shared main take-aways from COP15 to the BIOPATH members in the second BIOPATH Dialogue. A few months after the Conference of the parties, COP, on the Convention on Biodiversity, CBD, held in Montreal in December 2002 we were briefed on- what came out of COP15, how should this be taken into account and what comes next?
Matt Jones, Head of Nature Economy, UNEP-WCMC
Most attention has been on the Global Biodiversity Framework, GBF, which was agreed on at COP15 but Matt Jones stresses that it is actually part of a package of decisions and that these should be considered all together.
“The GBF was extremely important! But there is also a monitoring framework that goes alongside it and it is vital to understand which progress is being made and where we are on delivering on the set goals”, explains Matt Jones.
Pay attention to the whole package!
Other parts of the package concern the mechanisms for planning, reporting and review – the safeguards for delivery. Another important part is resource mobilisation. Finding the money that is needed to deliver on the ambitious goals. Furthermore, there are parts of the package on the need for capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and issues related to digital sequencing information on genetic resources.
“How do we provide the right funding in the right places? How do we make sure that those who benefit from the use of biodiversity in a financial sense, share this gain with those who are the custodians of biodiversity”, argues Matt Jones and continues with an urge to pay attention to the whole package since all parts should be delivered on and they are interconnected!
Look at the whole GBF - not just target 15
In a similar way, he recommends a closer look at the GBF as a whole. The overarching vision was set some ten years ago and states where we want to be in 2050.
“By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored, and widely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people”
Global Biodiversity Framework Vision
The four goals A-D, relate to the 2050 vision, address the three main objectives in the GBF which are on conserving biodiversity, sustainably using biodiversity and access to genetic resources and benefit sharing from them. The fourth goal concerns how all of this can be delivered.
For the shorter timeframe, there is a mission for 2030, and targets to reach this mission. The targets can be divided into the same three categories as in the long-term vision. So, the first eight targets are about reducing threats to biodiversity. The second cluster of targets is about meeting people´s needs through sustainable use of biodiversity and benefit sharing. The third part talks about tools and solutions for implementation.
“A lot of people regard target 15 as the (only) Business target but all the sets of targets are relevant to financial institutions and private sector. Looking at each target there is much that can be done, such as investing in ways that protects endangered species or repurpose activities to reduce threats to habitats or ecosystem services”, exemplifies Matt Jones.
Resource mobilisation is a topic to follow
The COP15 was different than the previous ones in regard to the broad participation by business and finance. In Montreal, there were on estimate 1000-1500 participants from these sectors, organising side events, with newfound interest and engagement into the negotiations. A key topic discussed at both COP15 and the COP27, held just one month before on Climate, was on resource mobilisation.
“The resource mobilisation topic has traditionally been about government-to-government financing and large mechanisms such as the World Bank or Global Facility initiative. Now we saw a clear swing towards the need for more private finance contributions for the resource mobilisation, and a clear expectance from governments on hybrid solutions”, says Matt Jones.
As the demands on business and financial institutions are growing, there was also much talk about biodiversity credits, and this will most likely be a topic of interest ahead. According to Matt Jones, there is a lot of learning taking place, with comparisons to climate credits. Some see new business opportunities related to biodiversity credits, so this movement will most likely grow.
What comes next?
Matt Jones sees that there will be more activities on the implementation activities in the next COP to be held in Turkey in late 2024. When the global community come back together, they will review the progress. With GBF in place there are new requirements and an implementation plan to follow up on. The national implementations will be key and support the big picture on how we are moving forward and how we are able to pay for what needs to happen.
For Matt Jones, a new assignment has just been official, he will co-chair the IPBES Biodiversity & Business Assessment which will hopefully be ready in late 2025 or early 2026. Congratulations and good luck!
Learn more! 6 April WWF Briefing for Business: IPCC Climate report
With the release of the IPCC's sixth assessment report showing the sheer gravity of the climate crisis, WWF are hosting a briefing for businesses on the report, highlighting the severity of the situation, and commenting on how it relates to business.
Join the webinar on the 6th of April at 14:00 CET Registration link
Speakers: Dr Stephen Cornelius, Global Deputy Lead for the Climate and Energy Department and Dr Stephanie Roe, WWF's Global Climate and Energy Lead Scientist and Lead Author on IPCC Working Group III report on mitigation.
