Next year’s COP16 will be hosted by Colombia, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has confirmed.
The location of the COP has been uncertain since Turkey withdrew in August following a series of devastating earthquakes earlier in the year.
However, after Colombia last week offered to oversee the event, it took only a week for the CBD to confirm the South American country as the host, although it has yet to be decided which city will be the venue.
“The secretariat is delighted to have the government of Colombia as host of COP 16. Colombia is home to tremendous biodiversity, is an inspiring example of how to engage with indigenous peoples and local communities and is at the forefront of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity,” David Cooper, acting executive secretary of the Convention, said in a statement.
The Colombia COP will be the first since the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was agreed in Montreal last year, and the implementation of that agreement will top the agenda at COP 16, which will run over Oct. 21-Nov. 1.
“Parties to the Convention are expected to show the alignment of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the Framework,” the UN statement said.
“COP 16 will further develop the monitoring framework and advance resource mobilisation for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”
As well, UK-French initiative the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits is expected to present its final recommendations for the basics of a global voluntary biocredit market at COP16.
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