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Held in Cali, Colombia, the Biodiversity COP16 was marked by two historic agreements and some uncertainties. 

Indigenous peoples will be included in future negotiations and decisions on nature conservation through a subsidiary body. In addition, a clause has been introduced to recognize - for the first time - the importance of the role of Afro-descendants in protecting nature. Both reflect progress in discussions on Article 8 (j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The article indicates the need for countries to respect, preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of local communities and indigenous populations with traditional lifestyles relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, with due participation and sharing of the benefits arising from this knowledge and practices.

The decisions were celebrated by indigenous peoples, quilombolas and traditional communities. However, the sources of funding for practical actions remain unclear. COP16 was suspended due to lack of quorum before approval of some items and will resume in 2027, in Armenia.

Repercussions and lessons learned

On social media, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, commented on how the Brazilian position was fundamental in the process of articulation with the countries that were against the creation of the subsidiary group.

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“We achieved this achievement, which represents the participation and protagonism of indigenous peoples in guiding agreements and negotiations on biodiversity,” he said.

Johnny Martins, president of the National Association of Quilombos for Cooperation and Sustainable Rural Development - Negra Anastácia, celebrated the inclusion of Afro-descendant peoples.

“Considering that we are one of the Latin American peoples that most preserve their territories, it is also extremely important that the Convention on Biological Diversity can value this. So having this work, ensuring that the name ‘Afro-descendants’ is actually included in international treaties, I am sure that it will change the way the Convention looks at it, and also how states will look at their Afro communities and, especially in Brazil, at the quilombola communities,” he told ISA.

“The creation of the subsidiary body and the inclusion of Afro-descendants in the text of the Convention are important advances in consolidating the understanding of the relevance of these peoples and communities in the conservation of biodiversity,” assessed Adriana Ramos, deputy executive secretary of ISA. 

“But at the same time as it advances in this direction, the Convention is stuck on the issue of financial resources, which are essential for implementing the COPs’ determinations. This scenario only shows that the Convention has made great progress in terms of what organized society has to offer and very little in terms of what depends on a change in stance, whether by governments or the private sector,” he says.

Article 8(j)

The discussion on Article 8 (j) arose from a recommendation by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to distinguish between “indigenous peoples” and “local communities.” For these groups, the need for this distinction is a response to the body’s colonialist stance, which fails to take into account the different struggles and demands of each group.  

For indigenous peoples, after the inclusion of their category in the article, after years of struggle, it was essential to establish the creation of a subsidiary body, that is, a type of committee that provides input and support that will support the Convention's decisions. 

For Afro-descendant peoples, the objective was precisely to include the term “Afro-descendants” in the final document of COP16 and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), as a form of historical reparation and recognition of their role in the conservation of biodiversity. 

“The commitment to historical reparations must address environmental justice, the importance of the African diaspora and the care that people of African descent have for biodiversity,” declared the Minister of the Environment of Colombia, and also president of the Convention, Susana Muhamad, during the first International Forum of People of African Descent, which took place during the CBD. 

There are still many challenges to be overcome in order to implement the established agreements, including defining forms of financing for actions that promote the protection of species diversity and the protagonism of indigenous peoples, quilombolas and traditional communities. 

Negotiations ended without defining a new, broader fund for biodiversity, which raises the question of how to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), agreed at COP15 on Biodiversity. One of the challenges of COP16 was precisely to define the ways to put the framework into practice.

The Cali Fund

Another important point for traditional peoples and communities was the creation of a fund, the Cali Fund, for the sharing of benefits derived from digital sequence information (DSI). 

Much of this information is used in products such as medicines and cosmetics, generating profits that rarely reach the communities and peoples who managed and maintained this genetic heritage and hold knowledge about the species and their uses.

“Indigenous peoples and traditional communities, which include groups of Afro-descendant peoples, are the true guardians of our ecosystems. For this reason, they deserve more effective participation in the Convention, especially in decisions on the recognition and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic heritage. This includes the rights arising from access to digital sequence information (DSI),” said Brazil’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, in a speech during the event.