The United Nations conference on biodiversity (COP16) ended this Saturday in Cali, Colombia, without the participating countries reaching an agreement on the financing of the roadmap to stop the destruction of nature by 2030.

The negotiations were suspended this Saturday morning (local time) by the Colombian president of the United Nations summit on biodiversity, Susana Muhamad. The suspension was due, after another night of discussions, to the loss of quorum of participants.

This suspension interrupted debates between Brazil, which supported the Colombian proposal to create a new fund for nature, and the European Union, Japan and Canada, which were strongly opposed.

The summit, which should have ended on Friday, was extended until this Saturday due to tensions between countries over forms of financing.

Agreement on implementation of fund to share benefits of genetic resources at COP16

The 196 countries participating in the United Nations conference on biodiversity (COP16) decided to manage the multilateral fund that will be fed by companies that benefit from the digitized genomes of plants and animals in developing countries.

For these nations, meeting since October 21 in Cali, Colombia, this financial mechanism, called the “Cali Fund,” will raise billions of dollars to finance commitments to protect nature. However, the amount that will actually be raised, mainly through voluntary contributions, remains uncertain.

According to the Brazilian representative at the summit, the “looting” of the wealth of developing countries “is the problem” that all countries are trying to solve, and the equitable distribution of the benefits derived from “digital information on the genetic sequencing of resources” is a recurring theme in COPs on biodiversity.

This data, often from species found in poor countries, is used in the manufacturing of medicines and cosmetics, among others, which can generate many millions of dollars.

For example, the vanilla used to flavor ice cream, synthesized in the laboratory, is derived from genetic sequencing of a plant once known only to a Mexican tribe.

The COP15 biodiversity conference, held in 2022, agreed to the creation of this long-awaited fund, but its operation has not yet been defined. In Cali, negotiators spent almost two weeks discussing fundamental issues, such as who pays, how much, to what fund and how the money will be distributed.

The fund must be fed by companies that use these genetic resources, which “must contribute a part of their profits or income to the global fund.” Companies of a certain size must contribute an indicative percentage of 1% of profits or 0.1% of revenue, according to the document.

Placed under the auspices of the UN, the fund will divide the money equally between countries and indigenous peoples.

The agreement lists target sectors including pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, cosmetics and biotechnology. Agribusiness will also be included, after Argentina’s attempt to exclude it, according to two sources close to the negotiations.