From 21 October to 1 November 2024, governments will gather in Cali, Colombia for the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference. Convening under the theme “Peace with Nature,” it will include the first Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.

At COP16, governments are expected to chart an accelerated action plan for the implementation of the KMGBF, which includes targets to conserve 30% of land, waters, and seas, restore 30% of all degraded ecosystems, and halt human-induced species extinctions by 2030. Countries are also expected to submit national targets, whether individually or as part of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), detailing how they will align with the KMGBF goals as per Decision 15/6 of COP15. Other important agenda items include advancing resource mobilization for the KMGBF, addressing finance and capacity gaps in developing countries, and seeking an agreement on the operationalization of the multilateral mechanism on benefit-sharing from digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, including a global fund.

With cooperation on international trade having a key role to play in supporting implementation of the KMGBF, the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference will feature the first-ever Trade Day on 26 October. Dedicated Trade Hub sessions covering a variety of trade-related topics will also take place on 24 October.

We invite you to join us at COP16 where we will focus on pathways for international cooperation on nature-positive trade and its role in achieving the KMGBF and broader sustainable development goals.

We also invite you to read this call to action signed by many organizations, including TESS, for mobilizing and transforming key sectors for biodiversity.

Connecting the Dots for Nature Positive Trade: What Role for International Cooperation on Trade and Trade Policies to Support Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?

24 October 2024 – 09:00-09:40 (COT) – UN Hub, Place Québec (Blue Zone)

TESS is co-organizing with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) the first session of a series of Trade Hub sessions hosted at the UN Hub from 09:00-17:30. This introductory session will explore how international cooperation on trade can support achievement of the KMGBF targets and broader sustainable development goals.

The opening session will provide an overview of the policy landscape, governance frameworks, and issues at the nexus of biodiversity, trade and sustainable development; highlight the importance of international cooperation for an effective trade contribution to the global biodiversity agenda that also serves wider sustainable development priorities; and point to collaborative opportunities for governments and stakeholders to harness cooperation on trade to advance achievement of the KMGBF.

The opening session will be followed by 10 Trade Hub sessions in which TESS will be participating, covering topics such as standards, trade-related policies and measures, statistics, nature-positive trade for sustainable agriculture, sustainable consumption and production, circular economy, and access and benefit sharing, among others.

Trade and Biodiversity Day

26 October 2024 – 09:00-17:00 (COT) – GBF Pavilion (Blue Zone)

This inaugural thematic day on trade is co-organized by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariats and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with other partners, including TESS. The event aims to facilitate discussions among negotiators and stakeholders on potential pathways, best practices, and solutions for trade and trade-related policies to address biodiversity loss and implement the goals and targets of the KMGBF. It will feature sessions on trade in support of achieving the KMGBF goals and targets, trade for inclusive and sustainable social development, trade commodities in terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and trade in innovative and specialized markets.

Biodiversity Law and Governance Day

26 October 2024 – 08:30-15:45 (COT) – Online

This thematic day, organized by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) with partner universities, will focus on the following key themes: advancing legal elements of the KMGBF; enhancing nature-based solutions, sustainable use of natural resources and synergies with biodiversity and other treaties; and strengthening the effectiveness of the Nagoya Protocol and addressing genetic information. The programme is available here, and interested participants can register to attend the sessions online.

Finance and Biodiversity Day

28 October 2024 – 0900-18:30 (COT) – Blue Zone

This thematic day, organized by UNEP Finance Initiative, aims to support resource mobilization and alignment of financial flows with the vision and mission of the KMGBF. Sessions throughout Finance and Biodiversity Day seek to foster meaningful engagement among CEOs, finance ministers, and other leaders in biodiversity and finance, providing a platform for high-level debate and collaboration on meeting society’s nature goals. TESS will be participating and following sessions throughout the day.

TESS will also be on the ground at COP16 supporting partners at the Trade Booth, located in the Blue Zone. To meet with TESS colleagues directly at COP16, we encourage you to contact Olivia Carolina Bonner or meet her at the Trade Booth on 27 and 28 October, 09:00–13:30 COT.

TESS thematic work on biodiversity, natural resources, and sustainability in agriculture and food systems aims to foster inclusive international cooperation on nature-positive trade that supports sustainable development.

We invite you to explore our publications, dialogues, and expert views of which we present some recent highlights below.

Nature-Positive Trade

As Colombia prepared to host COP16, on 9 October we co-organized with Colombia, Ecuador, and Australia a session at WTO Trade and Environment Week on nature-positive trade. Speakers explored the intersection of biodiversity, trade, and agriculture, focusing on how international cooperation can support the CBD and broader sustainable development goals. The discussion further sought to identify practical and collaborative avenues for WTO members to strengthen the role of trade in achieving the KMGBF. A video of the event is available.

In April, we co-hosted a brainstorming roundtable on nature-positive trade for sustainable development with UNEP and NatureFinance. The objective of the brainstorming was to take a step back with an eye to fostering ideas and collaboration on a systemic and long-term vision for a nature-positive trading system, while seeking to connect the dots with the wider biodiversity and nature finance communities. For Biodiversity Day Celebration 2024 on 22 May, we moderated a high-level event bringing together the senior leadership of a broad range of international and stakeholder organizations, highlighting the significance of the KMGBF, the urgency of action, and International Geneva’s role in supporting its implementation.

Among our publications on nature-positive trade, you can read a policy brief on Biodiversity and International Trade Policy Primer: How Does Nature Fit in the Sustainable Trade Agenda? by Carolyn Deere Birkbeck with co-authors and another published with UNEP on Nature-Positive Trade for Sustainable Development by Marianne Kettunen.

We have also recently published in our blog Synergies expert views by former WWF International Director-General Marco Lambertini on Trade Can Support the Achievement of a Nature-Positive Global Goal to Reverse Biodiversity Loss, World Resources Institute President and CEO Ani Dasgupta on Why the Next Three Months Are Critical for People, Nature, and Climate, the UK’s Special Representative for Nature Ruth Davis on Reforming Financial Systems and the Transition to an Economy That Values Nature, and NatureFinance Senior Advisor Mark Halle on The Governance of Trade as if a Healthy Planet Really Mattered.

Our work at COP16, builds on work since COP15, where we co-organized a side event on how can trade-related policies and measures can support the delivery of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This was followed in 2023 by a roundtable convened on the margins of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment reviewing possible options and next steps for trade policy to support implementation of the KMGBF.

Nature Finance

As part of our work to support cooperation on nature-positive trade, TESS has been seeking to connect the dots with the community of actors working on nature finance, recognizing that financing and investment will be vital to the shift to an economy that values nature and to sustainability in trade.

Ahead of COP16, in September, we published a policy brief by Ruth Davis on The Transition to an Economy That Values Nature. The paper argues that fundamental reforms are needed to tilt financial incentives away from nature's destruction towards its protection and restoration and calls for a new diplomacy where the future landscape for nature financing is shaped by those on the front line of nature protection. In the context of discussions at the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference, the paper underlines that governments must promptly meet their public finance targets under the KMGBF and that new public and private finance sources will be needed, particularly to reach the KMGBF target of $200 billion from all sources by 2030. The author further argues that policymakers—among other options in the future landscape for nature financing—should pay particular attention to new payments for ecosystem services schemes that are being discussed on the international stage, including negotiations at COP16 to operationalize a multilateral mechanism on benefit-sharing from DSI on genetic resources. A Synergies article derived from the paper is available.

Sustainable Agriculture and Environmentally Harmful Agricultural Subsidies

As part of our work to support trade-related cooperation on the biodiversity crisis, TESS is advancing ongoing work to promote a trading system that supports sustainability in the agricultural sector. We encourage you to read a TESS policy brief on Trade and Sustainability in the Agricultural Sector: Options for Multilateral Trade Cooperation by Christophe Bellman. In Synergies, we have published an expert view by Christophe Bellmann on How the WTO Can Help Foster Cooperation on Sustainable Agriculture and Trade and another by Clara Brandi and colleagues on Promoting Sustainability Through Reforming Subsidies for Agriculture in the WTO.

Among other activities, we have mobilized an International Expert Group on Environmentally Harmful Agricultural Subsidies to identify a set of harmful subsidies for priority action at the international level and inform discussion on options for cooperative action in the multilateral trading system. The expert group will be releasing a final report by the end of 2024. We also highlighted the issue of environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies at a WTO Public Forum session organized in September and a one-day deep dive with experts and government delegates hosted in June exploring possible approaches and pathways to address such subsidies.

You can access many other TESS publications and dialogues relevant to the global biodiversity agenda, including on critical minerals, deforestation and sustainability standards in agriculture, in our thematic work dedicated to biodiversity, natural resources, and sustainability in agriculture and food systems.