Delegates agreed to create an indigenous peoples’ subsidiary body at the COP16 Biodiversity Summit in Colombia

CALI, Colombia (AP) — Delegates reached an agreement late Friday on UN Biodiversity Conference create a subsidiary body that will include indigenous peoples in future conservation negotiations and decisions.

The COP16 summit took place in Cali. Colombiawas a continuation of the historic 2022 agreement in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to save the flora and fauna of the Earth, including protecting 30% of the planet’s territory and 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.

Friday also passed a measure to recognize the importance of the role of people of African descent in protecting nature.

Negotiators struggled to find common ground on some key issues over the past week, but were able to reach a consensus after talks late Friday. The world’s indigenous delegations burst into applause and tears at the historic decision.

“This decision recognizes and protects the traditional knowledge systems of indigenous peoples and local communities for the benefit of global and national biodiversity management,” said Sushil Raj, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Global Rights and Communities Program.

“This strengthens representation, coordination, inclusive decision-making and creates space for dialogue with parties to the Constitutional Court,” Raj told The Associated Press. “It contributes to supporting the management of biodiversity of indigenous peoples and traditional territories, and contributes to the development of international human rights standards referred to in the Global Biodiversity Framework.”

The body will include two co-chairs elected by the Constitutional Court: one will be appointed by the UN parties of the regional group, and the other by representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities, the document says.

At least one of the co-chairs will be selected from a developing country, taking into account gender balance, the document says.

“This decision recognizes the value of the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, Afro-descendents and local communities, and also repays 26 years of historical debt under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),” Susana Muhamad, Colombian representative. Minister of Environment and President of COP16, published on social media platform X shortly after the announcement.

However, the pledges made by countries over the course of two weeks fell far short of the billions needed to address the sharp decline in global biodiversity, with only about $400 million in the fund.

At the Montreal summit, rich countries pledged to raise $20 billion a year in environmental finance for developing countries by 2025, rising to $30 billion a year by 2030.

The world’s wildlife populations have declined by an average of 73% over 50 years, according to the biennial Living Planet report from the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London.