COP16 BIODIVERSITY: ITALIAN CLIMATE NETWORK’S ANALYSIS
Rome, February 28, 2025 – The extraordinary session of COP16 on biodiversity concluded last night at the FAO headquarters in Rome. The session was convened to address unresolved issues left pending after the suspension of the conference in Cali, Colombia, in November 2024.
Late in the evening, a package of key decisions was officially approved in its entirety. As COP16 President Susana Muhamad commented, the agreement has given “muscles, legs, and arms” to the Global Biodiversity Framework launched at COP15 in 2022 — a framework that, for biodiversity, is comparable to what the Paris Agreement represents for climate action.
All four negotiating texts discussed in Rome (L34, L31, L26, and L33) focused on the two key pillars of this negotiation: finance and monitoring to measure progress toward the objectives.
As in Cali — and similarly to the parallel COP29 climate negotiations in Baku — the central issue was finance, the very topic on which COP16 had stalled in Colombia. In Rome, the gap between wealthier countries and developing nations remained wide. The crux of the discussion was the creation of a new biodiversity-specific fund separate from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which many developing countries deemed necessary but several wealthier nations opposed. The final compromise established a permanent structure for the financial mechanism within the existing GEF framework, in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The conference reaffirmed the goal of mobilizing at least $200 billion per year for biodiversity by 2030. Developed countries must allocate at least $20 billion annually by 2025, rising to at least $30 billion annually by 2030, in favor of developing countries.
The second key negotiation track at COP16 focused on monitoring biodiversity measures. Although this may seem like a technical issue, measuring progress is essential to achieve concrete results and optimize investments. The session approved a set of indicators critical for tracking progress toward the 23 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
“With COP16’s final decision, the Year of Finance for both climate and biodiversity COPs closes amid the worrying indifference of the media and politics. The fact that both COP29 in Baku and COP16 in Cali and Rome have reached formal decisions on financial mobilization toward 2030 is, overall, a positive signal for the survival of the process — despite a fragmented multilateral landscape increasingly held hostage by escalating global conflicts,” said Jacopo Bencini, President of Italian Climate Network.
“The outcomes from Cali and Rome could undoubtedly have been more ambitious, both in figures and mechanisms. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the difficult journey that led to Rome and build the next steps from here — particularly regarding resource mobilization and political commitment at the national level, in a scenario that remains dramatic for global biodiversity.”
Biodiversity Finance
At COP16, the implementation of Articles 21 and 39 of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity was decided, establishing a permanent structure for the financial mechanism. Article 21 provides for a mechanism to deliver predictable and adequate financial resources to developing countries, operating under COP’s authority, which will set policies, priorities, and access criteria. The new mechanism will temporarily operate within the existing Global Environment Facility (GEF) structure — a decision that disappointed many developing countries.
The final compromise, outlined in paragraphs 21 and 22 of the decision, guarantees COP’s full governance over the new fund while deferring future decisions on the fund’s structure to COP17 in 2026 and COP18 in 2028. These decisions will determine whether the fund will remain within the GEF or transition into a new dedicated entity, potentially operational by COP19 in 2030.
In line with the Kunming-Montreal Framework, the final decision confirms the goal of mobilizing at least $200 billion annually for biodiversity by 2030 (Target 19). Of this amount, developed countries must provide at least $20 billion annually by 2025 and $30 billion annually by 2030 to developing countries. The decision also reaffirms the commitment to close the global biodiversity financing gap by 2030 through increased mobilization of funds from all sources: public, private, and multilateral development banks.
Additionally, the conference endorsed the target of redirecting at least $500 billion annually by 2030 away from subsidies harmful to biodiversity (Target 18).
Monitoring the Global Biodiversity Framework
On the monitoring front, COP16 approved a package of indicators (document L-26) to measure progress on the 23 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework. The decision (document L-33) also established that global collective reviews of progress will take place at COP17 in 2026 and COP19 in 2030, based primarily on national reports and a global synthesis report.
The final decision invites the private sector to voluntarily develop and share commitments that contribute to National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and the implementation of the Global Framework.
Analysis by the Italian Climate Network delegation at COP16 on biodiversity.
Cover photo: Margherita Barbieri, Head of Delegation for Italian Climate Network at COP16.