Representatives of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat held talks with their counterparts from the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) on the margins of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia. This engagement took place on Wednesday, 23 October and centred on the progress being made to implement a seven-year initiative - ‘Strengthening National Biodiversity Monitoring Systems for Enhanced Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’ (KMGBF), which focuses on improving national biodiversity monitoring systems.

CARICOM is one of the main collaborators on this initiative, which provides support for countries to access capacity-building materials and events; peer-to-peer exchanges at national and regional levels; and assistance for national experiences to be documented as lessons learned and case studies.

COP16, which is being held under the theme ‘Peace with Nature’, is the first meeting of the Conference of Parties following the adoption of the KMGBF in 2022.  As focus now turns to implementation, Governments will review the progress made in translating the global framework into national strategies and plans.

Keep following our platforms to remain informed of the updates at #COP16.