- The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) took place in Cali, Colombia, from Oct. 21 to Nov. 2.
- Several oceans-related decisions, as well as the formal inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities in negotiations going forward, were bright spots at the summit, observers said.
- A key development for the ocean was the agreement, culminating eight years of negotiations, on a protocol for identifying unique areas of the high seas, the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that are international waters, for protection.
- Other important developments included the announcement of new marine protected areas and new funding for ocean conservation.
The announcement came early on the morning of Oct. 31. Delegates to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, had finally agreed on a protocol for identifying for protection unique parts of the high seas, the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that are international waters.
The late-conference acceptance of this science-based process for pinpointing ecologically or biologically significant marine areas, or EBSAs, in the high seas provides a pathway to create marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters. Observers say it’s integral to the high seas treaty to protect biodiversity, which U.N. members adopted in June 2023.
Amid a largely underwhelming COP16, particularly after the “historic” adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at COP15 in Montreal two years prior, several oceans-related decisions, as well as the formal inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in negotiations going forward, were bright spots at the summit, observers said.
The EBSA process, developed through eight years of negotiations, is “a vital stepping stone along the way to protecting 30% of the ocean, particularly on the high seas,” Pepe Clark, oceans practice leader with Switzerland-based WWF International, said in a statement. The GBF calls for 30% of the world’s land and oceans to be protected by 2030, a goal known as “30×30.” Researchers have identified more than 300 EBSAs for possible protection in international waters, Clark added.
Known formally as the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), the treaty is legally binding and still must be ratified by 60 countries to come into force. Fourteen nations had ratified it by the end of COP16, which ran from Oct. 21 to Nov. 2. Proponents say they hope to see it fully ratified by the June 2025 U.N. Ocean Conference in Nice, France.
To help countries create new high-seas MPAs, a group of philanthropic organizations announced $51.7 million in funding.
Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, a network of NGOs registered in the Netherlands, said during a press briefing that the alliance is launching an MPA accelerator to work with NGOs, IPLCs and research organizations to prepare high-seas MPA proposals “so that they’re ready for approval” at the first conference on the high seas once the BBNJ is fully ratified.
Meanwhile, progress toward protecting 30% of Earth’s land and sea at COP16 wasn’t what many said they’d hoped for. Only 44 countries out of the 196 signatories to the 2022 GBF had provided full submissions of their biodiversity conservation strategies within their own borders by the end of COP16, as called for by the GBF.
Several countries did detail their plans for marine protections during the conference. Portugal announced Europe’s largest network of marine protected areas, covering 287,000 square kilometers (about 111,000 square miles) around the Azores archipelago in the North Atlantic. Puerto Rico also unveiled the community-driven designation of Jardines Submarinos de Vega Baja y Manatí, which covers more than 200 km2 (77 mi2) of reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds and is home to the greater Caribbean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) and more than a dozen other endangered species.
Still, a report released ahead of the conference on Oct. 17, led by the Seattle-based nonprofit Marine Conservation Institute, noted that less than 8.5% of the ocean is protected, confirming earlier figures from the World Database on Protected Areas. At the current pace, only 9.7% of the ocean will be protected by 2030, the report found.
A group of philanthropic organizations announced the creation of the 30×30 Southeast Asia Ocean Fund, aimed at increasing protection of the region’s waters through new, expanded and strengthened MPAs. Right now, less than 3% are formally protected
But MPAs don’t always mean that ecosystems aren’t threatened. A report released Oct. 26 found that 16% of MPAs in the Coral Triangle, an area covering millions of square kilometers of the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans, overlap with blocks for oil and natural gas exploration or production. The area, home to biodiverse reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds, holds more than 75% of coral species known to science. The report, authored by mapping organizations Earth Insight and SkyTruth, cautions that oil and gas development leads to oil slicks and increased vessel traffic that can harm marine life.
More broadly, delegates at COP16 worked to find ways to end trillions of dollars in government support for environmentally harmful practices, such as oil and gas production. Redirecting these “perverse subsidies” to support nature is a target outlined in the 2022 GBF, though observers said discussions at COP16 made little headway.
The conference also focused on finding new funding sources for nature protection. The GBF set forth a target of putting $20 billion from wealthy countries toward nature annually by 2025 and $30 billion by 2030. However, most estimates put the current figure far short of those marks. Several discussions revolved around the sale of biodiversity credits, in which companies or individuals pay to support nature-positive projects with measurable outcomes. The nonprofit SeaTrees announced the availability of what it called the world’s first marine biodiversity credits from a mangrove project in Kenya, a kelp forest in Australia and a coral reef in Fiji.
Globally, tropical coral reefs are in trouble, as scientists say they’re undergoing a global bleaching event, the largest on record and the fourth since 1998. The rising temperatures that are heating the world’s oceans cause corals, which are animals, to expel the algae that live under their protection, leaving huge swaths of these ecosystems bone-white. Without the food produced by the algae, corals can die, and the reefs can take decades to recover, leaving the 25% of the ocean’s fish and other marine life they support without a vital anchor.
“We’re approaching this point where the planet may lose its first planetary ecosystem,” Peter Thomson, the U.N. special envoy for oceans, told Reuters. “Coral is the first to go if we continue down the track that we’re on at the present.”
Healthy reefs also help feed more than a billion people around the world, and are a barrier to severe storms for coastal communities.
This dire situation led the U.N. to call an Oct. 30 emergency meeting on coral reefs at COP16. The goal was to establish a Global Fund on Coral Reefs worth $150 million by mid-2025 to improve coral health through financing and support for “reef-positive businesses.” However, commitments from New Zealand, the U.K., Germany and France totaled only $30 million. The fund’s backers say they want to see the sum grow to as much as $3 billion by 2030.
Host country Colombia announced the creation of the Seaflower Fund to protect more than three-quarters of its coral reefs and the 70,000 people who rely on them in the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve.
Another key development at COP16 was the formation of a body to represent Indigenous peoples and local communities in negotiations around conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity. In a related decision, debate led to the recognition of communities of African descent and their role in biodiversity conservation. And with the formation of the Cali Fund, communities will have a share of the profits from the sale of products from nature, such as medicines and cosmetics. Proponents argue that using “digital sequence information” in such products relies on the genetic resources from nature long safeguarded by these communities. The fund could be worth $1 billion annually.
Estefania Gonzalez, deputy campaign director at Greenpeace Andino based in Argentina, said in a statement that the decisions giving Indigenous peoples and local communities a greater voice in conservation negotiations, along with “progress on the oceans agenda are hugely important advances” to come out of COP16.
Attendees voted to hold the 2026 conference, COP17, in Yerevan, Armenia.
Banner image: Observers say it’s integral to the high seas treaty to protect biodiversity, which U.N. members adopted in June 2023. Image courtesy of Andy Mann/Blue Azores Program.
John Cannon is a staff features writer with Mongabay. Find him on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
What was achieved, and not, for Indigenous and local leaders at COP16
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