Two women and a man of mixed nationalities stand at a podium in front of a banner for the United Nations Conference of the Parties for Biodiversity (COP16), banner for the
The opening ceremony of the United Nations Conference of the Parties for Biodiversity (COP16), 20 October 2024. Image credit: UN Biodiversity.

Oxford University academics to advocate for ambitious nature recovery actions at UN biodiversity conference

Launching today, the United Nations Conference of the Parties for Biodiversity (COP16) will bring together governments from nearly 200 countries to decide on actions to meet the agreed target to halt and reverse the loss of nature by 2030. A delegation of more than thirty University of Oxford researchers will be following the proceedings, both in-person and online, contributing their expertise to the discussions. The conference takes place from 21 October – 1 November in Cali, Colombia.

The Oxford delegation comprises around 30 researchers representing the Department of Biology, School of Geography and the Environment, Blavatnik School of Government, Saïd Business School, Department for Continuing Education, and the Laudato Si’ Research Institute. Their expertise covers a wide spectrum including conservation and human rights; nature-based solutions; biodiversity finance; climate change and biodiversity; human-wildlife conflict; wildlife trade; land use; and environmental law.

Audrey Wagner, head of the Oxford COP16 delegation and Programme Coordinator at the Nature-based Solutions Initiative (NbSI) at the University of Oxford, said: ‘Academia and research have an important role to play at COP16 and within the Convention on Biological Diversity to ensure that policy decisions on biodiversity are evidence-based and in line with the latest science. Oxford researchers will be able to share their recent findings contributing to the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework, while being on hand to support Parties with evidence they may seek for negotiations and implementation, and call out any lack of ambition that goes against what the scientific evidence says we must do to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.’

The Oxford delegates going to COP16 include:

Professor Dame E.J. Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Biology. Her research areas include Nature Positive, equity and human rights, biodiversity metrics and credits, wildlife trade, saiga antelopes, food systems, and agricultural sustainability. She also advises Defra, the Convention on Migratory Species, and IUCN via membership of various groups and committees.

‘Currently, conservation finance faces an enormous deficit, estimated at $600-800 billion. This means that a key priority for COP16 is to consider new financial models for biodiversity. A particularly exciting breakthrough could be the negotiations around setting up a fund for conservation based on contributions of users of genetic information (Digital Sequence Information), for pharmaceuticals for example. Another important discussion is the urgent need to develop a robust, holistic indicator for the sustainable use of wildlife, which does not currently exist.’

Professor of Biodiversity, Nathalie Seddon, Founding Director of the Nature-based Solutions Initiative in the Departments of Biology and Geography (Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment) at the University of Oxford. Her current work focuses on the role of nature-based solutions in social and ecological flourishing, and how to increase the influence of robust biodiversity science as well as traditional knowledge on the design and implementation of climate and development policy.

‘My hope is that Cali will mark a turning point where commitments become concrete actions, with more countries submitting robust action plans that set us on a path to halt and reverse nature's decline by 2030 whilst also helping us mitigate and adapt to climate change. We want nations to act with ambition, integrity and unity to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework effectively, aligning it with climate action, and ensuring that all voices, especially those of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, are heard and empowered in the fight to protect nature, and ourselves as part of nature.’

Dr Helen Newing, a research fellow in the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science in the University of Oxford’s Department of Biology. Her research focuses on conservation and human rights, especially the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in tropical forest areas. Together with colleagues from the university and from the international human rights organisation Forest Peoples Programme, she has produced a major new guidance document on conservation and human rights that will be launched at the CBD COP on 29 October.

‘Governments have made impressive commitments in the Global Biodiversity Framework to move towards rights-based approaches to conservation. However, conservationists need practical tools on how to make this happen. Our new guidance is designed to meet this need. It provides authoritative information on international human rights law and standards as well as presenting several practical tools for rights-based conservation.’

Hannah Nicholas, coordinator of CASCADE (Conservation and Sustainability Consortium of Academic Institutions), a network brings together higher education institutions from across the UK working on finding sustainable and socially just responses to biodiversity loss.

‘The biodiversity crisis requires coordinated international action, with input from different sectors and knowledge systems. At COP16, we hope to emphasize the important role that science and academia can play in informing biodiversity conservation policy. It is essential that we strengthen partnerships for effective mobilization of capacities and resources, share existing knowledge and expertise, and push for greater capacity-building and development internationally.’

Melissa Felipe Cadillo, coordinator of the Biodiversity & Society Research Programme from the Oxford Martin School. Her work focuses on how to better integrate Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' knowledge, values and needs within biodiversity conservation action and governance, considering participatory and deliberative democracy processes.

‘The inclusion of Targets 22 and 23 in the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was a milestone in 2022. I am hopeful that COP16 will build on this by strengthening the key mechanisms to embed gender equality and women’s rights into GBF implementation, particularly in the elaboration of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, funding access, and the monitoring framework.’

Paola Fajardo is a DPhil (PhD) Candidate working at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment. Her doctoral research explores the mechanisms, outcomes, and decision-making processes of community-based mangrove recovery approaches funded by the federal government in Mexico.  At COP16, she will be participating in the first-ever “Biodiversity Capacity-Building and Development Forum” with a focus on strengthening capacities for the implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.

‘I am a strong advocate for the creation of an "International (Global) Biodiversity Fund" from public, private and philanthropic sources, which could directly support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities' (IP&LC) efforts to protect and restore nature. My hope for COP16 is that robust, just, meaningful, transparent, rights-based, and culturally respectful rules are defined for the distribution of funding under the newly created Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (KMGBFF), and other financial mechanisms under the GBF, and that such funds are directly awarded to parties and local organizations, as only around 1% of conservation funds reach the ground. Currently 20% of the funds of the KMGBFF will support IP&LC, yet I hope that this amount is increased.’

Emily Stott, coordinator of the Nature Positive Universities initiative, an inclusive global community of higher education institutions taking bold action to halt and reverse nature loss, founded in partnership with the UN Environment Programme.

‘I hope to see bold commitments to mobilise resources and find common purpose between the global north and south, to safeguard biodiversity hotspots, and meet needs whilst keeping our planet liveable.’