Cartagena de Indias, February 8, 2024. Bogota and Cali are the two finalist cities that could host the COP16 on Biodiversity, the largest and most impactful international event to be held in the country at the end of this year; this was announced by the Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, to the new governors of the country.
During the Governors' Summit, the Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, announced the two cities that meet the requirements to host COP16 at the end of October this year.
“I thank the almost 10 cities in the country that applied, with the support of their mayors and governors, to host the COP. We received the UN and only two cities passed the filter of minimum conditions, the finalists to host the COP are Bogota and Cali and we are in the last stage of deciding which city will be chosen,” said the minister.
The Minister emphasized that this event is a national purpose whose purpose is to recognize what it means for Colombians to live in the country with the most biodiversity per hectare in the world.
In this sense, she assured that this is an event that will gather between 12,000 and 15,000 people for more than 12 days, and pointed out that one of the important aspects of the event is the work with the communities and the leaders, to let the world know what it means to live in the Land of Beauty, the second most biodiverse in the world.
A total of seven cities were presented: San Andrés, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cali, Bogotá, Quibdó and Barranquilla.
Peace with Nature will be the motto of this event where the visions of Indigenous Peoples, peasants and ethnic communities will be heard, regarding the relationship we have with ecosystems and the importance of facing the crisis of biodiversity loss.
It should be recalled that the Minister, Susana Muhamad, led the nomination and presentation of the country's credentials to host the COP16, the World Biodiversity Conference, with the purpose of making our country visible and promoting it and keeping it active in the climate action agenda at a global level.
COP16
It is the 16th edition of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It will be held in Colombia from October 21 to November 2, 2024.
COP16 is also the COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is held every two years.
It is one of the main international bodies for political decision-making on the crisis of biodiversity loss in the world and will bring together representatives from more than 190 countries, as well as civil organizations and groups.