Prioritizing water and nexus thinking at COP16

The Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity(COP16) in Cali, Colombia, closed on 1 November, after 12 days of events and negotiations centered around the theme of "Peace with Nature". Throughout the conference, the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gainsplayed an active role in highlighting the importance of water-energy-food-ecosystems (WEFE) nexus approaches. These approaches are essential for improving sustainable water resources management and food systems, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring equitable access to clean energy.

Taking transformative action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030

Many nations are proposing transformative action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, but the urgency of the situation requires far greater efforts. National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans(NBSAPs) are key policy instruments for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. These plans provide a strategic blueprint for the 196 participating countries to set targets, prioritize actions, identify monitoring activities, and align policies to accelerate efforts to protect nature and the ecosystems on which societies depend.

NBSAP Day, held on 22 October and co-hosted by NEXUS Gains and partners, showcased progress, shared lessons learned, and explored innovative solutions for advancing NBSAP implementation. The day's eventsfacilitated in-depth discussions among policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders to tackle the challenges, opportunities, and strategies for effective NBSAP implementation at national and local levels. Sessions ranged from reflecting on progress since COP15 to examining how to measure progress and drive NBSAP implementation forward.

One key session, Turning NBSAPs into reality, focused on the need to mainstream nature into economic sectors, political agendas, and societies as central to advancing NBSAP implementation. Participants explored solutions to overcome the barriers to biodiversity mainstreaming, as outlined in the Global Biodiversity Framework. This session included five breakout discussions, one of which was focused on agriculture and food systems. Chris Dickens, Principal Researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and researcher for NEXUS Gains, opened the session with remarks on the process of NBSAP updates and implementation. He emphasized the importance of a whole-of-government approach to more effectively mainstream agriculture and food systems into NBSAPs. Chris explained that "The nexus approach brings different sectors together to ensure that developments are made in harmony and trade-offs consider all the sectors".

The discussion in the agriculture and food systems session highlighted many challenges that NBSAP participant countries are facing. One key obstacle is monitoring biodiversity - it is difficult to get baseline data, and therefore to generate realistic, achievable, science-led targets for the NBSAPs. Other challenges identified include social and political instability, gaps in resources, a lack of budget for the implementation of the NBSAP actions, and the fact that country-level strategies cannot be standardized.

The session concluded with a call for integrated multisectoral efforts such as those instigated in Peru, Bhutan, and Nepal, which have whole-of-government approaches. Emphasizing the need for data sharing and long-term funding mechanisms, the session underscored the need for coordinated, cross-sectoral efforts and sustained commitment from all stakeholders.

Prioritizing water for peace and biodiversity conservation

Resolving water-related conflicts across sectors and administrative boundaries is a catalyst for environmental peace building. NEXUS Gains participated in several events that discussed this theme. At one, Chris Dickens presented the use of environment flow estimation and implementation as a key method for reconciling different sectoral and community interests in water use.

Agriculture is the primary driver of biodiversity loss worldwide, with freshwater biodiversity declining more rapidly than both terrestrial and marine biodiversity. For example, the fragmentation of rivers by infrastructure and the diversion of water for agricultural use, primarily irrigation, makes a significant contribution to the degradation of freshwater ecosystems. Chris stated, "Negative impacts on the environment need to be clearly incorporated into trade-off considerations. It is often the case that degradation of the ecosystem is unavoidable, but it should be carefully planned, quantified, and mitigated to the extent possible". Managing environmental flows is an example of implementing a WEFE nexus approach, where the use of water resources for any purpose is considered within the river ecosystem's capacity to provide the services.

Calling for collective action

Throughout COP16 there was a strong focus on creating synergies across all environment-related treaties to optimize efforts and resources in pursuit of common goals. This requires cooperation and coordination at both national and international levels to improve communication and identify investment opportunities. As a contribution to this effort, IWMI, as one of the six International Organization Partners of the Ramsar Convention, contributed to a joint lettercalling on heads of state and governments to prioritize water and wetlands in efforts to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The Montpellier Process, a collaborative learning initiative launched by CGIAR and the Montpellier scientific communities in March 2024 and supported by NEXUS Gains, is dedicated to designing transformative pathways across climate, biodiversity, health, and food systems. The process engaged approximately 1,200 participants through 10 connected events across COP16, delivering a clear message: the transformation of food systems is central to sustainable development, but this transformation must align with the Global Biodiversity Framework and its targets. Conversely, these targets will only be met if they are incorporated into food systems strategies and pathways. During a high-level event at the CBD Pavilion, Pooling collective intelligence for action, leaders from across the environmental, health, and agricultural sectors shared insights on unlocking local-to-global action for greater impact.

Encouraging continuous progress

Water is increasingly recognized as a vital, cross-cutting component that demands greater focus and action to achieve the Global Biodiversity Framework targets. At COP16 many sessions and platforms focused on sustainable agriculture and agrobiodiversity but the critical link between food production and water was not fully explored and there was little accountability for water-related actions.

While COP16 generated limited but significant progress in negotiations and generated immense energy among biodiversity advocates, the work is far from over. The interconnections between the crises facing the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere are increasingly evident, and the need for WEFE nexus approaches has never been more urgent.

This work was carried out under the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains, which is grateful for the support of CGIAR Trust Fund contributors: www.cgiar.org/funders

Header image: COP16 Opening Green Zone. Photo by Convention on Biological Diversity.

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