Nairobi, Kenya February 28, 2024. Ratifying its leadership in the biodiversity and climate talks, Minister Susana Muhamad, accompanied by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, presented to the United Nations Environment Assembly, the image that Colombia will have during COP16 and a message to make 'Peace with Nature'.
“We are launching the official logo of the COP16 in Cali, which is the flower of Inírida, which will represent the message of 'Peace with Nature', which means the representation of those unique issues that brings biodiversity. The flower is endemic to Guainía and is a flower that never dies, its petals never fall apart. We hope that the COP16 in Colombia can help the world to make peace with nature, so that we can sustain and maintain life on the planet forever”.
The flower of Inírida was the inspiration to create the image, which, from today, becomes the emblem representing the country during the COP16 on Biodiversity. Conformed by the 23 global goals of the Kunming-Montreal global framework on biodiversity and the 13 ecoregions of Colombia, the flower sends a message of reconciliation, joy and union of Colombians to advance the most important international environmental event in the history of the country.
“I would like to congratulate Minister Susana Muhamad, the government of Colombia and the city of Cali for their energetic mobilization to carry out COP16. The eloquent logo featuring the Inírida flower symbolizes the beauty and diversity of Colombia. Under the theme of Peace with Nature, COP16 will bring the world together to promote and support the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan - the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” David Cooper, Interim Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity.
David Cooper, Interim Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity.
Peace with Nature', the message that will be sent from Colombia to the world, is based on a recognition of the current unequal relationships, extractivist activities that overexploit the capacities of nature and raise the need to improve the relationship between humans and ecosystems.
The image, inspired by the Inírida flower, a species endemic to Colombia, brings together the 23 UN biodiversity targets, as appropriate in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, as well as a representation of the 13 ecoregions in Colombia prioritized in the National Development Plan.
Legal and illegal extractive economies, particularly those associated with fossil fuel economies such as mineral and hydrocarbon extraction, generate degrading practices that violate human rights and increase the contexts of conflict and violence. It is in this scenario that the world must begin to make “Peace with Nature”.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated that making peace with nature requires understanding that we are facing a triple crisis that intertwines climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, which, in the end, becomes a suicidal war, because without nature, humanity could not exist on the planet.
About COP16 on Biodiversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and entered into force in 1993, with the aim of conserving biological diversity, ensuring its sustainable use, and guaranteeing the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, or the Biodiversity COP, is held every two years and brings together representatives of 196 Parties to the Convention, as well as intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities and other relevant stakeholders.
Making 'Peace with Nature' is the message of COP16 in Colombia. A call for reflection to improve the relationship we have with the environment, to rethink an economic model that does not prioritize the extraction, overexploitation and pollution of nature.
The COP is an international space to establish agendas, commitments and frameworks for action in relation to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and to address challenges such as the climate crisis, loss of natural habitats, overexploitation of natural resources, among others. COP16 will take place in Cali, Colombia, between 21 October and 1 November 2024.