ECLAC had a large participation in the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversityheld in the city of Cali, Colombia, in October 2024. This participation, focused particularly on events on the agenda of the thematic block of Finance and Implementation Mechanisms, was led by the interventions of the Executive Secretary of the organization, José Manuel Salazar. Xirinachs, who served as a panelist, moderator or keynote speaker in multiple spaces, including High Level Segments convened by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Among his most notable interventions, the Executive Secretary participated in the High Level Segment arranged by the CBD Secretariat so that directors of the United Nations, Heads of State or Government, and ministerial representatives of the signatory Parties to the agreement, among other actors, will make statements aimed at promoting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (MMB-KM) by expressing support for key issues in the ongoing negotiations.
Likewise, Salazar-Xirinachs moderated the discussion panel developed as part of the anchor event of the thematic block on Financing and Implementation Mechanisms, entitled “Public Debt and loss of biodiversity: from tension to coherence”, a high-level event in which The dynamics of public debt were discussed due to the increase in emerging markets in developing countries that face the triple crisis: debt, climate change and loss of biodiversity.
Likewise, the highest authority of ECLAC served as main speaker in a parallel event of the official agenda of the CBD, led by the Regional Commissions of the United Nations, on Key Actions for the interregional and regional implementation of the MMB-KM, which provided a platform for interregional dialogue on the expansion of concrete, integrated and cross-border actions that can contribute to progress towards a more sustainable future at peace with nature, framed in the mandates and capacities of the different commissions to catalyze transformative actions by Member States.
The Director of the ECLAC office in Bogotá, Ángela María Penagos, was another member of the Commission delegation who was present at high-level events during COP16, including her participation as a panelist in the panel titled In-depth analysis of Goals 18 and 19 of the MMB-KM, which was part of the agenda of the Business & Biodiversity Forum held by the CBD Secretariat. Likewise, she served as moderator in another parallel event of the CBD, titled Investments for a Sustainable and Resilient Future for Life and Biodiversity, convened by the National Planning Department (DNP) of Colombia, to discuss the instruments or mechanisms of investment for development available in Colombia and the region, their potential to guide their spending on climate action and biodiversity, and the opportunities for transnational articulation in this matter.
Through the multiple interventions carried out within the framework of COP16, including those mentioned above, the different members of the ECLAC delegation reaffirmed the potential presented by the valuable natural heritage that the countries of the region have to carry out a productive transformation that allows sustainable development.
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