Bogotá, September 11, 2024 – With less than 40 days to go until the opening whistle of the most important global meeting to protect biodiversity, the Conference of the Parties COP16, Colombia reveals the key issues to be included in its Biodiversity Action Plan to 2030, which will be presented on October 21 when each country will make its assessment of these instruments.
Several countries have already submitted their action plans to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Colombia would join these with concrete national goals and actions that will halt the loss of biodiversity, promote and make sustainable use of nature in order to meet the 23 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework to 2030.
In this regard, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad, revealed that, based on the collective construction with different stakeholders in the country, three strategic goals have been set for Colombia's Biodiversity Action Plan to 2030, aligned with national commitments and the Kunming Montreal Global Framework, among others.
““Colombia will put in ecological restoration and productive reconversion to sustainable and regenerative productive systems five million hectares that contribute to the recovery of the local economy, but at the same time to the recovery of those critical environmental functions for the sustainability of the territories and the dynamization of territorial economies,”explained the Minister.
On October 21, when the most important global event to halt the loss of biodiversity on the planet - COP16 - begins, Colombia will present its Biodiversity Action Plan, known as NBSAP.
Muhamad also mentioned that“we will have 34% of the national territory under conservation strategies. They can be protected areas, recognition of the contribution of indigenous and ethnic peoples to conservation, but it can also be under biodiversity conservation figures both on land and in its coastal areas and internal and continental aquatic ecosystems”.”.
Muhamad highlighted, as a third measure, that the country will go from contributing 0.8% to 3% of the national GDP with biodiversity economy models, which will generate more than 500,000 jobs associated with the care of biodiversity and guarantee sustainable productive alternatives based on knowledge and technological innovation to generate added value.
In accordance with the national goals and actions defined, we will seek to define agreements and formal and binding mechanisms between the different public, private and community stakeholders that have participated in the process.
This Action Plan determines the country's goals and actions to conserve and make sustainable use of biodiversity by 2030, in line with the 23 targets of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
A participatory process at all levels
Since last year, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development has been leading a process that has been built jointly with the entire government and society and that was consolidated through the strategy 'Towards COP16'.
““In the participation route towards COP16, the contributions of women's population groups, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, black communities, raizal, palenquero, peasant communities, adolescents and youngpeople have been articulated, as well as those of the various groups of the academia, government institutions, territorial entities, private, productive and financial sectors, environmental organizations, civil society and other interested actors. We have held 23 regional meetings, virtual spaces and different participation mechanisms in which more than 16,000 people have participated,””said Muhamad.
The minister added that ““Peace with Nature implies enabling the conditions for different biodiversity use options to be viable, especially for local communities. It also implies that all sectors and actors assume concrete co-responsibility commitments to stop land use change and to modify the incentives that generate biodiversity loss”.”.
Boosting the biodiversity economy, multifunctional restoration, conservation and management of terrestrial and marine areas will be some of Colombia's strategic goals for the next five years.
The starting point of the Biodiversity Action Plan update
Based on the National Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services conducted by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, which identified the main causes of biodiversity loss in the country, such as changes in land and sea use, pollution, the introduction of invasive exotic species, the construction of illegal roads and illegal trafficking of species, the main focus of this plan was identified: the joint and constructive participation of the entire government and society, which has involved public, private and community actors, national, regional and local sectors, to agree on commitments and urgent actions to halt the loss of diversity in Colombia.
The 23 goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework were also reviewed in light of the country's environmental policy instruments from various sectors and stakeholders.
More than 16,000 people participated in the dialogues to identify priority actions at the local, regional and national levels to achieve the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
In accordance with the National Policy for the Integrated Management of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Biodiversity Action Plan 2016-2030, the Peace Agreement, the current National Development Plan (2022-2026), the analysis of the consultation process with experts and strategic stakeholders at the national, regional and local levels, multiple bilateral meetings with government entities, intersectoral meetings, workshops and roundtables with companies, communities and different sectors, accompanied by International Cooperation, the National Planning Department, the National Association of Industrialists (ANDI), the National Trade Council, the Regional Autonomous Corporations, research institutes of the National Environmental System, National Parks, ANLA, among others, four national commitments were defined to achieve the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030.
National Bets
- Cross-sectoral integration and coherence for territorial management of biodiversity and climate action, as determinants of planning and management.
- Promoting the transformation of the production model towards sustainability, the revaluation of biodiversity and the fair and equitable distribution of benefits.
- Attention to informality and containment of environmental crimes associated with the drivers of biodiversity loss.
- Governance, co-responsibility and mobilization of resources for the collective and biocultural management of territories, for the well-being of ethnic groups and local communities.
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