CIEL Experts at the 16th Meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16)

COP16 Can and Must Address Oil & Gas to “Make Peace with Nature” 

CALI, Colombia, October 17, 2024 – Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) experts will closely monitor the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) negotiations in Cali and are available to comment.

Government delegates will convene in Cali between October 21 and November 1 to advance a landmark biodiversity plan to halt and reverse nature’s decline. With only days remaining before negotiations begin, just 25 countries have submitted their plans to meet a key UN agreement to halt ecosystem destruction, while the other 170 have yet to act. The plans are due before COP16 starts.

COP16 presents a major and urgent opportunity for countries to tackle the triple planetary crisis: biodiversity loss, climate change, and toxic pollution. Governments have the opportunity to explicitly address fossil fuel phase-out as a critical step to “make peace with nature,” the COP16 theme.

Despite the significant threats posed by oil and gas activities to biodiversity, especially ocean biodiversity, this issue has largely been absent from international diplomatic dialogues and, notably, from the CBD to date.

CIEL experts in Cali will also monitor any developments regarding geoengineering and regarding high-level discussions on the plastics treaty taking place in parallel to COP16.

For more information:

Media Brief: CBD COP16 Can and Must Address Offshore Oil & Gas to “Make Peace with Nature

Experts available:

  • Bruna Campos, Senior Campaigner on Offshore Oil and Gas. Follow Bruna on Twitter and LinkedIn. Bruna will be in Cali from October 23 to November 1st.
  • Mary Church, Geoengineering Campaign Manager. Follow Mary on Twitter and LinkedIn.Mary will be in Cali from October 23 to November 1st.
  • Daniela Duran, Senior Legal Campaigner, Upstream Plastics Treaty. Follow Daniela on Twitter and LinkedIn
    Daniela will be in Cali from October 23 to October 29.

Media contact:

For more information and to schedule interviews, contact: Niccolò Sarno, CIEL Media Relations press@ciel.org