Colombia to Launch Negotiations at COP16 To Protect Pacific Marine Corridor

Sea turtle, one of the most common species in the Pacific Ocean that is most endangered by climate change. Photo: X/ @_ACBC_

June 8, 2024 Hour: 3:35 pm

Colombia hopes to announce during the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (COP16), to be held this year in Cali, the negotiation with Costa Rica, Panama and Ecuador to sign a treaty to protect the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor.

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This was reported this Saturday by the Ministry of Environment of Colombia through a statement in which he pointed out that the head of that portfolio, Susana Muhamad, called for strengthening the sovereignty and governance of the countries that make up the Ministerial Committee of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Conservation Corridor (CMAR).

“A legally binding treaty that generates that the CMAR is not only an agreement of wills but a state responsibility is important. The treaty will negotiate the institutional, transnational structure of the CMAR,” Muhamad said.

¡Durante el primer #ViernesDeCOP16, la región Pacífico Nariñense se sumó a la firma del pacto por la biodiversidad al 2030!#RumboALaCOP16 estamos en Tumaco para avanzar en el Plan de Acción de Biodiversidad que presentaremos en la COP16. Esto es hacer la #PazConLaNaturaleza. pic.twitter.com/SaVWCLUrVj
— MinAmbiente Colombia (@MinAmbienteCo) June 8, 2024

“During the first #ViernesDeCOP16 , the Pacific Nariño region joined the signing of the pact for biodiversity by 2030! #RumboALaCOP16 we are in Tumaco to advance the Biodiversity Action Plan that we will present at COP16. This is doing #PazConLaNaturaleza.”

“We want to be able to announce at COP16 that the negotiation of this binding treaty begins as a commitment of the heads of state,” said Muhamad, adding that the WRC is an example for the world of what it means to make “peace with nature” for the joint work of the four countries to protect this corridor.

The minister also stressed the strategic and geopolitical importance of this corridor, which covers more than 500,000 hectares and is an important migratory route for sea turtles, whales, sharks and manta rays. “If people, States work to cooperate to care for nature, we are building bonds of peace, we are making Peace with Nature, but also peace between us.”

Therefore, concluded Muhamad, an eventual treaty would foster a transnational understanding of the value of biodiversity, conservation, its sustainable use and the need for the “framework of equitable distribution of genetic resources.”