COP17: “Multilateralism is not yet dead. It is still alive and kicking”

After an all-night negotiating session last Friday, countries at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity ultimately reached agreement on a series of key biodiversity issues.

Centre researcher Laura Pereira, who was on site in Yerevan, Armenia for parts of COP17, says the outcome demonstrates that multilateral cooperation remains alive despite increasingly difficult negotiations.

"We're starting to see discussions within the biodiversity convention become as intense, fraught and political as those we've seen in recent years at the climate COPs."

She continues:

“But they did manage to sign off on all of the major documents, which is a really big win for all of the countries that were there and present,” she says.

Finance remains central

Finance was one of the most debated issues throughout the meeting. Negotiators eventually reached agreement on resource mobilisation, a longstanding point of contention in biodiversity governance.

For many developing countries, increased resource mobilization is essential to meet the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Biodiversity Plan, and to participate effectively in international science and policy processes.

Another significant outcome is an official mechanism for the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and local communities within the convention.

“The specificities of that had started in COP16 in Cali in Colombia and were finalized during this COP.”

Looking ahead

There was also an agreement reached on biodiversity and climate change as well as marine and coastal resources. Some proposals, including references to the High Seas Treaty and a recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, did not make it into the final texts.

Even so, Pereira believes the overall outcome is positive.

"Ultimately, this was a win," she says. "We got quite a lot of important negotiations through. Multilateralism is not yet dead. It is still alive and kicking."

The next biodiversity summit, COP18, will be hosted by Ecuador in 2028.