Posted on December, 11 2023

Ximena Barrera, Government Affairs and International Relations Director, WWF Colombia, said: “WWF congratulates the Colombian government for offering to host the COP16 UN biodiversity talks. Colombia is home to almost 10% of the planet’s biodiversity and the Amazon rainforest, a globally important carbon sink stewarded by many Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The leadership of Colombia in international negotiations connecting the biodiversity, climate and sustainable development agendas as well as its national-level action on biodiversity, would bring enormous authority to its Presidency. WWF invites the UN CBD to quickly confirm Colombia as host of the 2024 UN biodiversity talks.

“At the COP 28 climate talks, Colombia has been a strong voice calling for the implementation of nature-based solutions to be included in the Global Stocktake, as a tool to achieve global climate and biodiversity goals. Now must be the moment when the world truly delivers an integrated response to our planetary emergency.”

Guido Broekhoven, Head of Policy Research and Development at WWF International, said: “WWF welcomes the announcement that Colombia has offered to host the next round of UN biodiversity talks in 2024. The adoption last year of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was a historic moment, with the world committing to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030. But the true test of any global agreement is how it’s translated into action, and the host country of COP16 will have a critical role in driving forward this agenda. 

“With this offer on the table, WWF encourages the UN CBD to quickly confirm the venue and dates of COP16, providing countries with a clear deadline to submit their revised national biodiversity plans.

“If accepted as the incoming Presidency, Colombia will have an important role to play in ensuring that, at COP16, countries rigorously assess if their national biodiversity plans together add up to achieve the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework, and agree to a transparent and rigorous global review of progress at COP17 in 2026. As the current co-chair of the NBSAP accelerator partnership, it is well-positioned to do this. However, with new commitments on finance for biodiversity sparse in the past twelve months, and only a handful of revised national biodiversity strategies announced, countries have major homework to complete in the months ahead. WWF hopes that the COP16 host will work with China, which led the COP15 biodiversity talks, to secure increased ambition and momentum on nature from all countries."

ENDS

Notes to editors:
For interviews contact: 
WWF International’s media team news@wwfint.org 

• A new WWF report, Breaking Silos - Enhancing Synergies across NDCs and NBSAPs, identifies how national governments can strengthen synergies between their national climate plans (NDCs) and national biodiversity strategies (NBSAPs). Published on 8 December, the report identifies a number of entry points to ensure that policy planning and implementation processes work together to deliver for climate, nature, and people.
• NBSAPs We Need outlines WWF’s recommendations for Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to deliver ambitious national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs).
• What’s Hot Newsletter - During COP28, WWF provides a daily “What’s Hot” newsletter with updates on the negotiations, news, announcements and press conferences. WWF has experts from a range of different countries who are available for interviews and briefings. Get in touch with us at cop28-comms@wwfint.org to subscribe to this newsletter