Verra will have a strong presence at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). CBD COP16 will take place in Cali, Colombia, from October 21 to November 1, 2024, with a focus on financing biodiversity conservation and restoration.

The following Verra staff will attend:

This is the first biodiversity COP since the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted at CBD COP15 in 2022. The GBF sets out an ambitious pathway, including 23 targets, to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Target 19 calls for the mobilization of $200 billion per year for biodiversity from all sources, including through payment for ecosystem services, green bonds, biodiversity offsets and credits, and benefit-sharing mechanisms with environmental safeguards.

During CBD COP16, Verra will launch its Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) Nature Framework, which will certify and incentivize widespread investment in measurable positive biodiversity outcomes benefiting nature and people. Verra’s Nature Framework will contribute to the Global Biodiversity Framework goals and targets by catalyzing biodiversity-related international finance flows and increasing the transparency and robustness of biodiversity outcome monitoring and reporting. By certifying projects under the Nature Framework and issuing Nature Credits, Verra enables companies that have a nature strategy to make investments in support of nature.

In addition to launching the Nature Framework, Verra staff will participate in a number of speaking engagements (listed below). Sinclair Vincent will also attend Bloom 24 (external), the leading event for professionals advancing strategies to protect and regenerate nature, in Cali from October 24 to 25. If you would like to meet with a Verra staff member during the conference, please contact events@verra.org.

VERRA STAFF – SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Thursday, October 24

  • Time: 5:00–5:45 pm COT
  • Location: Banco de Occidente – Sala 2, Green Zone
  • Hosts: Asociación Nacional de los Ejecutores de los Contratos de Administración de las Reservas Comunales del Perú (ANECAP), Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), Confederación de Nacionalidades Amazónicas del Perú (CONAP)
  • Verra staff: Lorena Arredondo Tagle, senior manager, sustainable development, program development and innovation

This event will feature a panel of experts on the participation of Indigenous Peoples (PPII) of the Amazon in the design, implementation, and monitoring of ecosystem services (SSEE) mechanisms associated with biodiversity credits as a basis to propose an Indigenous-led document of articulation between the conventions on climate change and biodiversity.

Friday, October 25

  • Time: 09:00–11:10 am COT
  • Location: Hotel Intercontinental
  • Host: South Pole
  • Verra staff: Sinclair Vincent, senior director, sustainable development, program development and innovation

To attend this session, please register. The full session will be live streamed.

  • Time: 3:00–4:00 pm COT
  • Location: Mansión Obeso Mejía – Salón Andean Bear Room
  • Host: Intertek
  • Verra Staff: Susana Vélez Haller, regional representative, Latin America and the Caribbean

Monday, October 28

  • Time: 1:00–2:10 pm COT
  • Location: International Coral Reef Initiative Pavilion, Blue Zone
  • Host: Great Barrier Reef Foundation
  • Verra staff: Sinclair Vincent, senior director, sustainable development, program development and innovation

Wednesday, October 30

  • Time: 6:00–7:15 pm COT
  • Location: Joint MDB Pavilion
  • Verra staff: Sinclair Vincent, senior director, sustainable development, program development and innovation
A range of new carbon and nature markets is emerging across the global economy as frameworks in the fight against climate change and addressing the loss of biodiversity. These markets can contribute to scaling up financing and incentives needed for businesses and economies to better align with the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement. Panelists at this event will discuss the opportunities and challenges for financial institutions and corporates posed by these rapidly developing markets to drive climate action, foster the protection and restoration of ecosystems, and secure the rights and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Related Resources

For more information, please view the resources on our “Area of Focus: Nature Conservation” webpage.

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