2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) | Rare

People-Centered Solutions & the Global Biodiversity Framework

The rights, representation, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) was one of the major discussion points at COP16, “The People’s COP.” Parties adopted a new program of work on IPLC rights and knowledge, and established a permanent subsidiary body on ensuring the rights and contributions of IPLCs in the global agenda.

Rare hosted a reception together with the CBD Secretariat on people-centered solutions for the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes both co-designing actions with the leadership on the frontlines of environmental and climate challenges and transitioning the whole of society – from local communities, consumers, governments, and the private and financial sector – to more sustainable actions. Rare President Caleb McClennen, PhD moderated the discussion and Rare agronomist Monica Lozano presented on Rare’s regenerative agriculture work with small scale farmers in Colombia.

Carlos Arango, Rare Director of Economic Resilience, spoke on a panel on plastic and transitioning toward a circular economy, emphasizing the role of financial innovation and inclusion in enabling behavior change, pointing to Rare’s Small-Scale Fisheries Impact Bond and work towards inclusive finance for the communities we work in.

Subnational Leadership for Biodiversity Action

Rare’s delegation was joined by two Coastal 500 mayors: Mayor Ricardo Alvarado of Omoa, Honduras and Mayor Alfredo Coro of Del Carmen, Siargao Islands, Philippines. They joined over 250 leaders from 81 countries at the 8th Summit of Subnational Governments and Cities to increase recognition of the key role of coastal subnational governments in biodiversity and climate action, and to celebrate the partnership of the Coastal 500 with the Ocean RISE Coalition of cities for coastal resilience (more information to come in due course towards the UN Ocean Conference in 2025).

Marine Biodiversity: OECMs take center stage

COP16 had the most significant focus on oceans of any CBD COP to date, particularly around how to effectively protect and manage fisheries resources and how to achieve the 30×30 target in the ocean – from the coast to areas beyond national jurisdiction. Countries adopted a long-negotiated decision on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas, which establishes a new scientific framework for mapping & updating marine areas critical for the health of the ocean. This is expected to help steer identification of the “right” areas to protect under the 30×30 target from coasts to high seas.

Across several events throughout the COP, Diana Vasquez, Vice President of Rare Central America, and Hari Kushardanto, Vice President of Rare Indonesia spoke to the role of OECMs in protecting the rights and ecosystems of coastal communities, in multiple events hosted with partners including the Blue Action Fund, Bloomberg, the Global Environment Facility, and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, among others.

Hari, on behalf of the Rumah Foundation, Oceankind and Asia Community Foundation, helped present the official launch of the 30×30 Southeast Asia Ocean Fund.

Rare hosted an official side event “OECMs as a People-Centered Approach to Coastal Conservation” together with government partners from Indonesia, Philippines, Honduras, and Mozambique, and facilitated by Rocky Sanchez Tirona, Rare’s Managing Director of Fish Forever, on the effective identification, design and management of fisheries-based OECMs – and the national legislation and regulatory pathways that are charting the path forward for this work on the ground. Speakers, including Ray Chandra Purnama, Rare’s Director of Policy in Indonesia, highlighted similarities and differences of OECM recognition & development across countries, with key messages emerging on community leadership, science-based identification, and inclusive and long-term financing. Madhu Rao, Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, emphasized that as the concept of OECMs gains global attention, collecting the amazing case studies of real implementation from Rare and the countries that we work in is invaluable to help other countries learn how to move forward.

Mangrove Action on the Road to COP30

Monique Galvao, Vice President of Rare Brazil, joined the delegation with community leaders Renilde Piedade da Silva of the Mother’s of Mangroves and Mailton Silva dos Santos of the Cuíra Network to advance community-led mangrove conservation action in the lead up to the 30th UN Climate Conference in Belem, Brazil in 2025.

In a series of events with global political & financial partners from the UN Mangrove Breakthrough, the Global Mangrove Alliance, the UNFCCC Race to Resilience, the Global Fund for Cora Reefs, ORRAA, the Ocean-Climate Platform, and CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, among others, they spoke on transforming decision making practices for mangrove action by bringing in coastal communities to design and management of solutions.

With a powerful statement on how we must work together to ensure that the work happening at global COPs is actually translating into on ground action: we need to make sure to back up our high level political and financial commitments with real action and community level finance on the ground, reaching the real champions of mangroves.

IUCN added Brazil’s Resex Soure to its Green List of Protected Areas, which recognizes protected areas that achieve ongoing results for people and nature in a fair and effective way. Resex Soure is the first conservation area in Brazil to achieve this status, and Rare team members, partners, and community leaders were on the ground to celebrate.

Nature, Food Security & Health

At COP16, Parties adopted a landmark Global Action Plan on Biodiversity & Health following over four years of negotiations, which outlined actions on not only pandemic prevention and other emerging diseases, but climate change, nutrition and food security, pollution, and agricultural reform.

On Biodiversity and Health Day, Rare joined a panel hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with partners from Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Health and Harmony, EcoHealth Alliance, and the World Organization on Animal Health to celebrate the launch of a new WHO report on Nature-Based Solutions for Health and share perspectives on the role of biodiversity action for human health.

Fisheries and aquaculture play a critical role in food and nutrition security for billions of people, especially in coastal economies and small island developing states. But these blue foods are often forgotten in conversations on nutrition and health. With nearly 500 million people worldwide depending on small-scale coastal fisheries, the loss of marine food sources affects coastal communities’ livelihoods, nutrition, and food security. Hari Kushardanto highlighted Rare’s work co-designing solutions with communities to secure coastal fisheries resources for generations to come for food security & nutrition outcomes.

Aligning Climate & Biodiversity Action

Connecting the biodiversity & climate change agendas was a major thread at COP16, with a call to Parties to align their national biodiversity & climate strategies including through the integration of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction.

Rare, together with our partners, launched the reports Harnessing Ecosystem-based Adaptation to drive progress on implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework together with the CBD Secretariat, Climate & Development Knowledge Network, and IUCN; and Blue Thread: Aligning National Climate & Biodiversity Strategies, together with the Ocean-Climate Platform, the German International Cooperation Society (GIZ), Pew, and the NDC Partnership, among others. These reports aim to support policymakers in translating high-level commitments on nature and climate under the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement into actionable solutions for the benefit of both people and nature. This includes ensuring climate-biodiversity actions and solutions are people-centered: co-designed and led by the local communities on the frontlines of climate change, meeting and protecting their needs, and ensuring these solutions are accessible & financially feasible.

Emily Goodwin, Rare Senior Manager of Global Policy, presented on Rare’s work on translating policy commitments into durable, effective conservation action, together with partners from the CBD Secretariat, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The work on climate and biodiversity alignment continues at the 29th UN Climate Change Conference from 11 – 22 November. Read more about Rare’s plans for COP29 here.