Indigenous leaders expressing optimism amidst rekindled United Nations talks on biodiversity in Rome.

The United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) concluded in Rome on February 28, 2025, after three days of final negotiations. The conference, which began in Cali, Colombia, in mid-October, 2024, marked a significant milestone in the global efforts to protect biodiversity.

One of the most notable outcomes of COP16 was the establishment of the Cali Fund. This new fund aims to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources. Companies that profit from nature's genetics are encouraged to contribute to the Cali Fund, with a suggested contribution of 1% of company profits tied to DSI usage, or 0.1% of revenue. Industries such as pharmaceuticals and bio-agriculture are expected to contribute.

The Cali Fund could prove self-sustaining provided companies pay their share each year. Half of the funds raised by the Cali Fund will be allocated to the self-identified needs of Indigenous peoples and local communities, who will be called on to report to national leads on progress connected to the Cali Fund.

Target 22 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, established in 2022, also aligns with the Cali Fund's objectives. This target aims to ensure that Indigenous peoples and local communities are fully represented and active participants in all conservation decision-making. Target 22 includes land tenure - returning traditional lands to Indigenous peoples and local communities for their management - as a conservation goal and a means of assessing progress toward biodiversity protection.

Viviana Figueroa, a global technical coordinator with the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, stated that COP16 was historic for Indigenous peoples and local communities. She expressed optimism, stating that there is so much evidence of the contribution of Indigenous peoples to the conservation of biodiversity. Marcos Neto, UN assistant general secretary, echoed this sentiment, saying the success of the Cali Fund will be critical for providing finance to people on the ground who are the custodians for species and genetic diversity.

Eva Zabey, CEO of the NGO Business for Nature, also hailed the Cali Fund as a crucial tool to ensure the benefits the private sector accrues from nature are shared equitably. However, it is worth noting that there are no available search results or public information indicating that Moderna has contributed any funds in the past three years to the Cali-Fund for the fair and equitable benefit-sharing of data on the genetic sequences of plants and animals used in their commercial products.

The final text from Rome includes language regarding "planning, monitoring, reporting and review," a process by which countries will start tracking progress on specific targets next year. Figueroa hopes these agreements will soon support Indigenous peoples on the ground for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. The Cali Fund, established at COP16, is estimated to generate US$1 billion annually.

This article was published with permission from Mongabay.com.