This month saw the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) and the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP29). Both events focused on the urgency of collective efforts to combat biodiversity loss and climate change, with significant developments reached on both fronts.

Negotiations at COP16 resulted in an agreement to establish a Subsidiary Body to elevate and enable the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities. This requires parties to respect, preserve and maintain traditional knowledge and practices, and expands the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in biodiversity conservation conversations.

Another key achievement was the establishment of the Cali Fund. The Cali Fund will enable genetic resources (like digital sequence information) to be shared. The Fund is voluntary, but domestic governments could require users of this data to contribute revenue for the use of the genetic data.

Discussions at COP16 also looked to develop a framework for a global biodiversity market and determine how to fund biodiversity restoration projects from the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. The discussions did not result in an agreement on how to mobilise financial resources this year, so negotiations will continue at the next Conference of Parties in Armenia.

COP29 saw a breakthrough agreement related to climate finance. It was agreed that public finance to developing countries would triple to US$300 billion (A$460 billion) per annum by 2035. This will not only enable developing nations to focus on climate change related initiatives, but also contribute to job security, growth and cheaper clean energy. Both private and public sectors will also work together to scale up finance to developing countries to US$1.3 trillion by 2035. The finance is intended to assist countries to continue increasing clean energy while also assisting those subject to climate-related disasters. The agreement was controversial with some opposition from developing nations, including Australia’s Pacific neighbours, who felt that it didn’t go far enough.

Agreement was also reached on carbon markets that will make country-to-country trading and carbon crediting mechanisms under the Paris Agreement fully operational. This will introduce a UN-run system for trading carbon credits and help countries progress their climate and emission goals. It is anticipated that this will also potentially mobilise new projects to address climate change.

There has been some criticism on the outcomes of the events, with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres admitting that he had hoped for a more ambitious outcome on climate financing. It’s also worth noting that COP29 did not see any progress made on COP28’s discussions around agreement for parties to “transition away from fossil fuels.”

Hanging over both events was the recent US election, with an expectation that the Trump Administration may withdraw the US from these global forums in the future. We will see whether this becomes a reality and how these initiatives progress in the next Conference of Parties which will beheld next year.