From UN COP16 to COP29: Joint Solutions to Advance Climate and Biodiversity Action
Accelerating Global Action for a Resilient and Sustainable Future
November 11, 2024: The 29th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) gets underway today in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a focus on accelerating global action against the climate crisis. The meeting follows closely on the heels of the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16), which concluded on November 2.
The impacts of climate change and action on biodiversity loss underscore the importance of aligning climate and biodiversity efforts. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are essential to effective climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, making it crucial for nations, negotiators, and all stewards of the environment to work together to meet the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Paris Agreement.
This urgency was echoed at COP16, where governments adopted a milestone decision aimed at integrating climate and biodiversity action across negotiations, side events, and related international initiatives.
The agreement text notably “calls upon the President of COP16 to engage with the Presidents of COP29 and COP30 to strengthen multilateral coordination on climate change and biodiversity loss.”
The agreement outlines several key actions to address the interdependent challenges of climate and biodiversity:
Promote nature-based and ecosystem-based solutions: Encourage these approaches in national biodiversity strategies and climate adaptation and mitigation plans, as well as in disaster risk reduction.
Enhance collaboration: Facilitate the collaboration and full and effective participation among parties, Indigenous peoples, local communities, women and youth on the impacts, interlinkages and related policies on biodiversity and climate change.
Integrate ocean-climate-biodiversity goals: Explore opportunities to address the ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus in a holistic way, advancing the aims of both the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement.
Develop tools for climate-resilient conservation: Establish guidelines for effective conservation and restoration in a changing climate.
Resource mobilization: Strengthen the tracking of various sources of finance to enhance understanding and transparency to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework and Paris Agreement.
Advance marine protection: Improve the identification of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) to safeguard the most critical and vulnerable parts of the ocean.
Utilize cutting-edge science for ocean management: Leverage the latest scientific knowledge to plan and manage ocean resources, supporting a healthy ocean that is fundamental to a stable, life-sustaining climate.
As countries intensify their commitment to integrating climate and biodiversity efforts, effective strategies are essential to drive real progress on these interconnected challenges. The Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model offers a powerful solution, providing a comprehensive, funded vision that enables nations to achieve their climate and biodiversity goals concurrently.
Central to the Enduring Earth strategy, the PFP approach secures long-term conservation investments by linking sustained funding to clear, measurable social and environmental objectives. Through PFPs, nations have the opportunity to implement climate-smart solutions that build community resilience and support governments in meeting their climate commitments.
By conserving and restoring carbon stocks and strengthening ecosystem resilience, PFPs support climate mitigation. This includes protecting vital carbon sinks like mangroves, peatlands, and densely forested areas, which play a crucial role in slowing climate change. PFPs also encourage shifts away from activities that harm carbon-storing ecosystems, focusing instead on restoration, reforestation, and the monitoring of these critical areas. Enhanced management practices, such as forest fire prevention and monitoring of coral and kelp ecosystems, further contribute to climate resilience.
By safeguarding these areas, PFPs help mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on ecosystems and communities, strengthening resilience at every level. The PFP approach reduces the impact of extractive and harmful industries, boosts species populations, and supports ecosystem-wide biodiversity, thereby enhancing resilience to climate impacts.
As one of the most effective strategies to advance global climate and biodiversity goals, the PFP model fosters community resilience, equitable partnerships, and conservation benefits. This approach holds immense potential to curb the decline of nature and deliver lasting conservation outcomes.
(c) photos courtesy of UN Climate Change