The UN Conference of the Parties on Biodiversity, COP16, drew thousands of government officials, NGOs and scientists from around the world to Cali, Colombia for 11 days of discussions. WSP, and its Canadian team, has been very active in the development of solutions for biodiversity preservation and restoration since the Global community met in Montreal almost two years ago.
Patrick Lafrance, National Vice-President, Ecology and Environmental Impact Assessment for WSP in Canada, attended the global gathering in Colombia. He shares his thoughts on what he saw, what he heard, and what he will take away from this latest round of vital conversations on biodiversity.
What was your initial reaction upon arriving in Colombia and at the COP16 venue?
As soon as we stepped off the plane in Bogota, you could see signs promoting COP16. It was clear that Colombia was very proud to be hosting the international community at COP.
When I arrived at the venue, it was almost overwhelming: the number of people, the size of the venue, and the number of simultaneous discussions happening. You have to be very selective in how you use your time because there are so many thoughtful, engaging conversations taking place throughout the entire schedule.
You spent some time at all three events that occurred in Cali. Can you explain what they were and why each was important?
So, you have three events happening at once: COP16, Bloom, and the World Biodiversity Summit.
COP16, that’s where your government officials and NGOs are gathered to have the core discussions, trying to come to agreement on key issues that emerged from the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the global fund for biodiversity, and other key policy and governance measures.
Bloom is focused on the business community. All of WSP’s corporate clients are there, no matter the sector. This is where discussions are taking place on the solutions that are available for protecting and restoring biodiversity. What’s working, what isn’t working, and what solutions are coming. There’s also lots of networking opportunities as part of this event, which was important.
World Biodiversity Summit is in the middle of both. It attracts both the government/NGO and corporate communities. This event is really a series of panel discussions on the most important topics around nature.
As a company that is providing biodiversity solutions to clients both corporate and government, we recognize that we need to be part of all three conversations, so we are aware how best to provide thoughtful advice to support the implementation of biodiversity initiatives.
What’s the content you were hearing about on the stages and at the podiums of the different events, but what were you hearing in the crowd? What kind of conversations were you engaged in?
There was a lot of discussion around data, and how it can be best applied in biodiversity solutions. Of course, data solutions using things like satellite technology is not new to us, as it is something we already use a lot of in this sector. But there were many startups and smaller companies at COP this year pushing products and services related to data. I was really impressed with the quality of solutions they were presenting. We didn’t see two years ago in Montreal.
There was also a lot of talk around TNFD (The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures), with a number of discussions held specifically on this topic. We learned that there are now more than 500 companies working on TNFD, early adopters of the framework, and those companies are attending events like COP to get ideas for how best to continue on this journey. This is a very positive development, seeing more companies choose to use TNFD and figure out how to adopt it.
Did you get the impression that the result of COP16 was a positive one?
Unfortunately, overall, I don’t think it was. There were two big issues. First, less than 25% of the countries present had put a nature strategy in place (Canada was one of the leaders in this regard). Of the 190+ countries that were there, only 44 had put nature strategies in place since COP15 in Montreal in December 2022.
Second, there were extensive negotiations around permanent funding for the global biodiversity fund, which would help poorer countries pay to protect and restore biodiversity. That fund is supposed to be $20 billion/year, but countries could not come to an agreement on the portion each country would contribute. There was a really big push to get there, but you could sense the disappointment that an agreement wasn’t reached.
However, there was one very positive step forward, and that was the establishment of a permanent Indigenous subsidiary body. This is the first of its kind for any of the UN Rio conventions, and a historic step for ensuring that Indigenous voices are represented and heard as part of the global biodiversity conversation.
Now that you are back, supporting biodiversity initiatives across Canada, do you feel that your participation in Cali was valuable, both personally and professionally?
Absolutely. Conferences like this are so important for us to attend for a number of reasons.
At a conference like this, you get the chance to meet a lot of people that you haven’t before, and you immediately start thinking about ways to collaborate. Everyone there is trying to find biodiversity solutions, so the discussions you have generate a lot of mutual interest to find ways to work together.
Then there is the chance to build on existing relationships with government and corporate people you’ve met before, understanding how their progress in the biodiversity journey is progressing, and how we might be able to help them moving forward.
And it’s a chance to learn. You get to learn from other people about the issues and solutions facing biodiversity in other parts of the world, and understand how that applies to Canada.
It represents the chance to do so much positive work in a very short time since all of the key people are there together.
To learn more about how WSP supports companies, governments and institutions with their biodiversity journey, visit:
