Nov 712 min read

CIPRI reflections from the Biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia

Updated: Nov 9

COP 16 is not over yet.

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) was suspended at 8:27 in the morning of November 2nd due to lack of quorum and will resume next year to complete the agenda. While it brought us a number of landmark decisions for facilitating the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups, Local Communities and people of African descent in implementing the Convention and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) (see below in Historic COP Decisions in Cali), it also showed that the implementation of the KMGBF is dangerously off-track and may lead to irreversible consequences for natural ecosystems, Biocultural Diversity and human rights.

In what follows, Monica Boța Moisin and Nicole Crouch who represented the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative® (CIPRI) and WhyWeCraft® Association at COP16, share key takeaways from the meeting and the dialogues woven with allies and representatives of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities about the relevance of the legal recognition of Cultural Intellectual Property Rights® (CIPR) for safeguarding biocultural diversity and full implementation of the KMGBF by 2030.

COP 16 'Peace with Nature' - 'Paz con la Naturaleza'

The theme of this COP is powerful and calls for a paradigm shift. It calls for reflection on healing our relationship with nature and rethinking economic models that enable "legal and illegal extractive economies, particularly those associated with fossil fuel economies such as mineral or hydrocarbon extraction, generate degrading practices that violate human rights and increase the contexts of conflict and violence."[1] The logo for COP16 is inspired by the Inírida flower, an endemic species to Guainía, Colombia, a flower that never dies, its petals never falling apart. Healing the relationship between humans and natural ecosystems and, as a global society, making peace with nature is the only way that we can sustain and maintain life on the planet for future generations. In his speech at the opening ceremony of COP16, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that “making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21st century.” He added that “With each passing day, we are edging closer to tipping points that could fuel further hunger, displacement and armed conflicts.” and called for Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity ("the CBD") to develop national plans aligned with the 23 Targets of the KMGBF and back them up with transparent monitoring and robust financing, including at least $200 billion annually by 2030. However, despite governments being due to submit new National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) by the start of COP16, only one-fifth did so [2].

CIPRI Focus at COP 16

As custodians of Biocultural Diversity Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities around the world are knowledge partners for biodiversity conservation and on-the-ground implementers of actions and practices for harmonising the relationship between humans and Mother Earth and safeguarding the wellbeing of all living things. Under the CBD the critical role of Indigenous People and Local Communities ("IPLCs") in safeguarding biodiversity is recognised. Article 8, letter j) of the Convention (" Article 8(j)") states that "Each contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: (j) Subject to national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge innovations and practices." As CIPRI and WhyWeCraft® Association we are closely following and attending the meetings of the Parties to the CBD as accredited observers to support Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities by crafting legal strategies that position the custodians of generational knowledge systems as right holders, knowledge partners and key decision makers for safeguarding Biocultural Diversity.

Relevance of Cultural Intellectual Property Rights® for safeguarding Biocultural Diversity

Cultural Intellectual Property Rights® (CIPR) are a proposal for a new generation of rights that acknowledge the collective custodianship of Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities who nurture, sustain and protect Traditional Knowledge Systems, practices and cultural expressions reflected in their lifestyles and cosmologies, and who, through their ways of being and seeing the world and its natural ecosystems safeguard Biocultural Diversity. CIPR are a legal paradigm that supports the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities in biodiversity governance with Free Prior and Informed Consent, acknowledgement (Credit) and equitable benefit-sharing (Compensation).

We spun many yarns and wove dialogues with allies from different professional and cultural backgrounds, and in particular representatives of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, to hear their purpose at COP16 and their perspectives on collective custodianship rights as an approach to support Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities to nurture, sustain and protect their Traditional Knowledge Systems and legally recognise their role as Biocultural Diversity custodians. Collective custodianship rights were found to be a unique and important rights-based approach that respects Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities' governance systems and supports their interests. Beyond collective custodianship rights as a concept, it was expressed that connecting Cultural Intellectual Property Rights® (CIPR) to the fashion industry is challenging business-as-usual practices and is creating tangible impact as it is driving systemic-change action in the business sector, a sector which received criticism at COP16 due to profit driven agendas and approaches that promote false solutions.

A lot was discussed and highlighted about false solutions. Broad and intransparent concepts such as 'nature based solutions', commodifying nature and market approaches based on biodiversity offsetting were criticised with strong arguments. Biodiversity offsetting is a false solution [3], biodiversity is not fungible, biodiversity cannot be bought. Destroying biodiversity in one place and compensating that loss by safeguarding the biodiversity in another place is simply not possible. This loss is irreversible. "It is important to consider if this is the right approach. This market approach has proven to not work in the past (referring to the system of carbon credits [4]). It is incentivising big corporations to keep polluting. There are big implications. These are false solutions that impact on our practices and access to our territories that are actually part of the solution. The value of nature for Indigenous Peoples cannot be quantified." said Áslat Holmberg, president of the Saami Council. Real solutions are found in the approaches of Indigenous People, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities which are based on an epistemological approach of generational observation. A paradoxical situation is unfolding. Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is not respected. Many of the corporate-led approaches to biodiversity conservation promote the expulsion of people from their territories for the sake of conservation and are not involving the custodians of biocultural diversity in decision-making. There is no direct financing mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities who should be at the centre of biodiversity governance and decision-making providing practical opinions and debunking corporate led false solutions, and it is them who suffer the consequences of unconsidered and impractical decisions. More public funding is needed for implementing the KMGBF, and in particular, direct financing for Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities who are at the forefront of Biocultural Diversity conservation for the benefit of all human kind.

Mother Earth-centric actions, expressly referred to in Target 19 on resource mobilisation, letter f), are the alternative to market approaches to the global biodiversity targets. Championed by Bolivia, Mother Earth-centric actions are understood [5] as an ecocentric and rights-based approach enabling the implementation of actions towards harmonic and complementary relationships between peoples and nature, promoting the continuity of all living beings and their communities and ensuring the non-commodification of environmental functions of Mother Earth. We saw a great number of representatives of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, organisations and a number of states such as Bolivia, Columbia and Canada sharing best practices from implementing KMGBF actions in this spirit.

The COP of the People

Outside the negotiation rooms a whole-of-society approach was visible. From the 23.000 registered delegates, a new record for Biodiversity COPs, there was a large and powerful participation of Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent and their communities, women and youth at side events and press conferences. Examples of Rights of Nature from jurisdictions in South America and methods of reconciliation with Mother Earth were amplified with urgency. CIPRI attended numerous side events and engaged in discussions with panellists on how recognising and respecting CIPR contributes to this paradigm shift led by Indigenous Peoples. Transformative change was palpable.

The side event ‘Codes of Living Well of the World’s Ancestral Peoples in the Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’ specifically focused on the Codes of Living Well of Indigenous Peoples which protect the laws of nature and are encoded in their languages, textiles, ceremonies, dances, sciences, myths, sacred places, architecture, etc. Within the Framework of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022 - 2032, the Vicepresidency of the Plurinational State of Bolivia supported the creation of a Traditional Knowledge database ‘Codigos de Vivir Bien’ containing Codes of Living Well from 42 Indigenous communities from 7 different countries. The panellists exemplified how textile cultural expressions contain codes for Biocultural Diversity safeguarding. It was stated that ancestral Codes for Living Well that can facilitate the implementation of the KMGBF were found in traditional clothing. These symbols on clothing are not created to be marketed, creating them is the means through which language and identity are maintained. The practice of creating garments is how ancestral Codes of Living Well are safeguarded for future generations. It is the means through which language, identity and knowledge systems of Biocultural Diversity are nurtured, sustained and protected through oral generational transmission. “The process of weaving is the concept of unity”. These ancestral knowledge codes need to be awakened and listened to in order to heal the Western view of separating humans from the rest of nature. They cannot provide solutions in the paradigms which oppressed them.

A clear message was conveyed: We are all part of something bigger than us, part of a totality. Indigenous representatives on the panel called for professionals with diverse backgrounds, including academia, law and industry to accompany them and work together. And a crucial question came up from weaving this dialogue: How can the diverse values of Nature, reflected in the Codes of Living Well, be integrated into the decision-making of States and the United Nations System to achieve the three objectives of the Convention? Inside the negotiation room the ideological divide between states that see nature as a subject of law and holder of rights and states that see nature as a resource to be exploited and commodified, defying its laws, was visible, audible, and greatly unsettling.

©2024 Nicole Crouch. Panelists at ‘Codes of Living Well of the World’s Ancestral Peoples in the Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’ side event. Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca Céspedes, lead negotiator on behalf of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

Historic COP Decisions in Cali

During the negotiations in Cali CIPRI followed closely Agenda item 14 on Implementation of Article 8(j) and related provisions. From the first pre-CBD Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in November 1988 to date, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities have been considered a major group with a major role to play in implementing the Convention. Article 8(j) states that "Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: (j) Subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices;" In the years after the adoption of the CBD in 1992, the Conference of the Parties has established an ad hoc open-ended Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions within the framework of the Convention, Traditional Knowledge being considered a "cross-cutting" issue that directly impacts many aspects of biological diversity [6]. Despite Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities being at the heart and centre of Biocultural Diversity conservation, the nature of this working group has been 'temporary' since 1998 when it was established, its mandate depending on the decision of the Parties to renew its Programme of Work. This changed on November 1st at COP16 in Cali when, in a landmark decision for multilateralism, Parties agreed to establish a new permanent Subsidiary Body on Article 8j and other Provisions, with its modus operandi to be developed by COP17. This new body will be a space for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to work together in-depth with Parties and other organisations to apply and promote Traditional Knowledge in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity [7]. Parties also adopted a new Programme of Work on Article 8(j). This transformative programme is meant to ensure the meaningful contribution of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities towards the three objectives of the CBD ((a) the conservation of biological diversity, b) the sustainable use of biological diversity, and c) the fair and equitable sharing of benefits), and the implementation of the KMGBF. All brackets were lifted from this text.

Noting the outcomes of the in-depth dialogue on the theme “The role of languages in the intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices”, the COP also encouraged Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations, to incorporate the conservation and revitalization of the languages of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities into the implementation of the CBD and the KMGBF, through concrete actions, such as support for community initiatives for cultural and resource centres and field schools, given their fundamental role in the intergenerational transmission of Traditional Knowledge.

Another historic decision was taken in regards to the recognition of the role of people of African descent, comprising collectives embodying traditional lifestyles, in implementing the CBD and the KMGBF. The term “collectives” refers to a form of organization and is used in the text of the COP decision to convey collective cultural identity, distinguish them from individuals, emphasising the traditional lifestyles and interconnected social bonds that they share. The COP decision "encourages Parties, to facilitate the full and effective participation of people of African descent, comprising collectives embodying traditional lifestyles, in implementing the Convention and the Framework, and to collaborate with them to protect and promote their shared knowledge, innovations and practices that support the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;" All brackets were lifted from this text.

An unprecedented agreement was reached with regards to benefit-sharing from the use of Digital Sequence Information (“DSI”) relating to Genetic Resources (“GRs”). Named 'the Cali Fund' the model is meant to ensure large companies and entities who benefit commercially from DSI such as the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, animal and plant breeding, beauty and fragrance sectors and others, to share those benefits with developing countries and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. According to paragraph 21 of the Modalities for operationalizing the multilateral mechanism for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, including a global fund, at least half of the funding is expected to support the self-identified needs of Indigenous peoples and Local communities, including women and youth within those communities, through government or by direct payments through institutions identified by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. The full text of the decision here.

What's next?

CIPRI will continue to weave and nurture the dialogues and connections developed at COP16 into tangible actions that support the collective custodianship rights of Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities and enable their effective participation in the implementation of the KMGBF.

With our new and existing allies we will bring these topics forward to COP17 in Armenia in 2026. Between now and COP17, we are joining energies in a focus group on fashion and Biocultural Diversity with Indigenous People, Ethnic Groups and Local Community representatives and allies in Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Philippines and Romania. If you support CIPRI’s approach, connect with us to actively engage in protecting the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights® of Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities and share your expression of interest to join our Biodiversity COP17 delegation in 2026.

Written by Monica Boța Moisin & Nicole Crouch

Nicole Crouch and Monica Boța Moisin of the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative® (CIPRI) and WhyWeCraft® Association at COP16

References:

[1] Colombia unveils COP16 logo to the world and sends a message of 'Peace with Nature', Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, Colombia, https://www.minambiente.gov.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Colombia-unveils-COP16-logo-to-the-world-and-sends-a-message-of-Peace-with-Nature.pdf

[2] Post COP15 National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) submitted in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, https://ort.cbd.int/nbsaps

[3] The Biodiversity Market Mirage Report, Friends of the Earth International, https://www.foei.org/publication/biodiversity-offsetting-crediting-report/

[4] Revealed: top carbon offset projects may not cut planet-heating emissions, The Guardian,

[5] Target 19 - Mobilize $200 Billion per Year for Biodiversity From all Sources, Including $30 Billion Through International Finance, letter f) of the KMGBF: (f) Enhancing the role of collective actions, including by indigenous peoples and local communities, Mother Earth centric actions (*footnote*) and non-market-based approaches including community based natural resource management and civil society cooperation and solidarity aimed at the conservation of biodiversity; footnote- [1] Mother Earth-centric actions: Ecocentric and rights-based approach enabling the implementation of actions towards harmonic and complementary relationships between peoples and nature, promoting the continuity of all living beings and their communities and ensuring the non-commodification of environmental functions of Mother Earth.

[6] Article 8(j) - Traditional Knowledge, Innovations and Practices, https://www.cbd.int/traditional/intro.shtml.

[7] Historic decision at COP16 as Indigenous Peoples and local communities gain a permanent space in biodiversity policy, International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), https://iifb-indigenous.org/historic-decision-at-cop16/.

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