The COP16 Global Biodiversity Conference in Rome ended on February 27, 2025. This meeting reached important agreements that show the global community’s determination to halt and reverse biodiversity loss
After many negotiations, all outstanding issues were resolved, showing a huge step forward in implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The importance of protecting our global biodiversity
COP16 originally finished in November 2024 during the plenary session in Cali, Colombia, but later came back together in Rome to address key unresolved aspects.
This included resource mobilisation, financial mechanisms, and the monitoring and planning of biodiversity targets.
These talks have since been successful and come to an end. This is seen as a key milestone in the global effort to protect biodiversity and tackle the world’s urgent environmental challenges.
Final COP16 agreements settled in Rome
The agreements reached in Rome provide a clear idea for financing biodiversity efforts past 2030, focusing on closing the biodiversity financing gap.
This will ensure that countries, particularly those with high biodiversity, receive the financial resources to protect and restore their ecosystems.
The decision also improved the monitoring framework for the GBF, establishing a good system to track progress against the framework’s 23 targets and 4 goals. This framework will allow countries to assess their achievements and contribute to a global picture of biodiversity progress.
The Cali Fund
Another part of the agreement was the establishment of the newly launched Cali Fund.
This fund will allow companies benefiting from digital genetic resources to share some of their profits with countries of origin. Half of the fund will be allocated to support Indigenous peoples and local communities, ensuring that those most connected to biodiversity benefit from the global push to protect it.
The negotiations also looked at how progress will be monitored and reviewed for COP17 in 2026, where parties will take stock of the implementation of the GBF.
The indicators that are agreed on during the meeting will allow countries to report their progress in a way that works with national policies and is globally comparable, helping to create a comprehensive understanding of global biodiversity efforts.
Outcomes from COP16
Despite the challenges set by global political tensions and multiple international crises, the parties involved showed a strong commitment to working together to safeguard the planet’s biodiversity. The agreements reached in Rome show that, even in a fragmented geopolitical landscape, the world can unite to address common environmental challenges.
As part of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which was first agreed upon in 2022, countries have made strides in aligning their national biodiversity strategies with global goals. To date, 46 countries have submitted revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), while 124 countries have uploaded their national targets to the global reporting tool.
In the future, the EU will remain committed to collaborating with countries worldwide to guarantee the continued implementation of this historic agreement, which is aimed at halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and reversing it beyond.
The EU will work closely with international partners to mobilise further resources to ensure successful biodiversity protection efforts.
The next COP conference, COP17, is scheduled to take place in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2026, where further discussions on the progress of the Global Biodiversity Framework will occur.
