Home to over 10% of the planet’s biodiversity, Colombia is among the most biodiverse countries in the world. 

Over 15,000 delegates, including 10 heads of state, 100 environmental ministers, and over 1,000 accredited journalists, have convened in Cali, Colombia this week for the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16).

While the Convention on Biological Diversity’s strategy comprises three main goals — conservation of species and ecosystems, sustainable use of natural resources, and shared use of the benefits of biodiversity — COP16 is most importantly a call to action, one that aims to turn ambitious commitments into tangible and impactful change.

At COP15 in Montreal in 2022, participating nations agreed to a new global biodiversity framework, including setting goals to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. 

With the current state of global affairs, many question the integrity of such ambitious targets. 

Private sector and global leaders alike have disregarded such initiatives as little more than a pipe dream. Elon Musk has cozied up to Argentinian President Javier Milei, an unapologetically brash libertarian, and former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president in the November election, bashing any efforts addressing climate, sustainability, and social impact concerns, declaring: “ESG is the devil.”

Rich in natural resources, Latin America is a specific focus at COP16. The region is shrouded by windy politicians with divided ideologies. 

Milei has decried the U.N. as a “Leviathan monster” at the U.N. General Assembly and accused the organization of imposing a “socialist agenda.” He has dissolved Argentina’s Ministry of Environment, granted tax benefits for fossil fuels, and significantly reduced state climate policy amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. 

His efforts contrast sharply with Argentina’s neighboring economic giant: Brazil.

Home to over 60% of the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil reduced its forest loss by 36% in 2023 with robust legislation passed under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a staunch climate leader. Similarly, Colombia slashed its primary forest loss by nearly 50% in the same year.

While efforts by Brazil and Colombia are significant in the greater push toward achieving climate targets, they are the exception. 

Governments must work in collaboration with the private sector to aid this transition. 

“For this conference to be a success, we need to see evidence that countries are stepping up and translating the ambitions of the Global Biodiversity Framework into action at the national level,” said Susan Gardner, Director of the Ecosystems Division at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 

The World Economic Forum’s New Nature Economy reports elucidate incentives beyond goodwill. Embracing nature-positive transitions across socio-economic systems could unlock $10.1 trillion in business opportunities.

This year is expected to be a watershed moment for the private sector’s collaboration with national strategies. Over 400 companies have adopted the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework in 2024. 

The task force brings to the forefront the responsibility of the private sector to combat degradation of biodiversity. These companies are taking action to assess, commit, transform, and disclose their impacts on nature, including at the sector level, by developing their own business-specific nature strategies. 

This reflects the private sector’s growing commitment to contribute towards the $200 billion per year target for nature conservation, pledged by public and private sources annually by 2030 under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) fund.

While a clear effort to the commitments and resolutions adopted at COP15 in Montreal is visible, one may beg to ask the greater question: Where will the $200 billion come from? 

The smoke and mirrors of the U.N.’s diplomatic approach to geopolitics often creates the illusion of progress but may give way to a bleaker reality.

COP16 urges accountability to ensure progress. The focus is shifting from constructing an ambitious framework to delivering on and upholding commitments.

Conversations in the coming weeks will test the viability of such ambitious goal setting. Nonetheless, regardless of market pressures and political agendas, the need to move the needle on preserving global biodiversity is imperative to ensuring a viable future.