From COP16 to COP29: Insights for Business Leaders to Drive Action on Nature, Climate, and People
Expectations were high for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, as the first meeting of the Parties since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at COP15 in December 2022. Yet, the mood emerging from the meeting was subdued. Despite several positive outcomes, including the creation of a new subsidiary body to include Indigenous peoples and local communities in CBD processes, and the development of a new benefit sharing mechanism for genetic information, negotiations failed to reach conclusions on key topics. These include the monitoring framework for the GBF’s implementation and resource mobilization of the $200 billion per year by 2030 that was agreed to at COP15.
Another key area of discussion at formal negotiations and side events was the need for greater coherence across the climate and biodiversity agendas, recognizing that the two crises are inextricably linked and cannot be effectively tackled in isolation. While some progress was made in terms of national level commitments to foster synergies, these discussions must now continue at COP29 and other milestones on the road to COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
As businesses turn their attention to COP29, here are three key insights from COP16 that should inform private sector action on nature and climate.
1. Showing up is not enough
COP16 saw unprecedented participation with more than 14,000 delegates in attendance, including an estimated 3,000 business and finance representatives. This strong showing from the private sector reflects a growing recognition among businesses of nature’s impact on value chains, and the need to confront associated risks and opportunities, particularly as expectations around disclosure and standard setting on nature continue to evolve.
Yet the stalled progress in negotiations, particularly around mobilizing resources for the GBF, serves as a reminder of the continuing gulf on nature finance. The private sector can engage with governments in a productive and substantive way to help close that gap.
Furthermore, with continued scrutiny around business interests and involvement in the nature agenda, the private sector has a lot to gain from engaging more productively and meaningfully with governments on implementation of the UNFCCC and GBF agendas.
2. Nature-based solutions are critical to achieving the Paris Agreement but cannot be scaled without urgent investment from public and private sectors
Climate finance discussions at COP29 must include nature-based solutions (NbS) given their potential to achieve up to a third of the emissions reductions needed to meet the goals the Paris Agreement, as well as deliver on related biodiversity and land degradation targets by 2030.
Despite their potential however, NbS only receive about 3% of public climate finance. Finance for NbS must triple by 2030 if we are to meet global climate and nature targets, with public funding playing an important role to unlock private finance flows. For context, for every US$4 of public funding for NbS, we currently only see US$1 of private finance.
For this ratio to change, business leaders need more clear and consistent enabling conditions to support the flow of private capital into protecting and restoring nature, along with regulations that support these investments to deliver durable, long-term results.
3. Business needs to be engaged early and consistently in national policy planning processes.
Scaling up projects that deliver outcomes for nature, climate and people requires policy coherence and strengthened collaboration across public and private sectors. Governments can facilitate this by creating ambitious and investable national climate plans, known as NDCs, but business needs to be at the table to help shape these opportunities. While most countries are still in the process of updating their NDCs ahead of the February 2025 deadline (and more than ¾ have yet to submit their updated NBSAPS), the hard work is now underway for companies and governments to collaborate and align on opportunities that move beyond dialogue and into to deal flows.
In We Mean Business Coalition’s Call to Action for Ambitious and Investible NDCs, business lays out clear asks to governments that NDCs include economy-wide targets that are 1.5 C-aligned, fully integrate nature’s role in mitigation and adaptation pathways, set a just and inclusive path to net zero, and are integrated seamlessly with national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The call to action also urges governments to engage business in the development and implementation of NDCs, as key stakeholders in the financing and delivery of solutions.
Encouragingly, the need for more integrated and inclusive national climate plans is reflected in the open letter to the presidents of Brazil and Colombia that was launched at COP16 with signatures from more than 70 global leaders from business, finance, science, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities.
As conversations pivot from COP16 to COP29 this week, the linkages between climate, nature and people need to remain front and center in discussions. This is particularly true when it comes to decisions around climate finance. Nature-based solutions are among our best tools for tackling climate change and leadership from both the public and private sector needs to reflect this. The stakes for the planet are too high for us to not be using every advantage we have.