COP16: After the Montreal Call in 2022, the Cali Response in 2024

Transformative Changes Are Essential to Our Survival

CALI, Colombia, Oct. 24, 2024 /CNW/ - Thanks to the efforts of civil society, multilateral dialogue on solutions to the underlying causes of biodiversity loss continued during a major event held today at COP16 in Cali.

The only event to come out of Quebec civil society added to the official COP16 programming, "From Montreal to Cali: building bridges to operate transformative change" welcomed high level representatives*, indicating the interest and significance of the proposed discussion. 

The event aimed to continue the dialogue initiated at COP15 with the Montreal Call, a plea for transformative changes to our lifestyles, our economies and our values.

Welcoming Colombian Perspectives

As an opening, the city of Cali presented the Cali Response to the Montreal Call. Mauricio Mira Pontón, director of the Cali environmental authority, announced a major new initiative to fight illegal economies, which have a dramatic impact on biodiversity and communities. Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia and President of COP16, Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Dr Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi, Co-Chair of the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment, also highlighted the importance of acting on the underlying causes of biodiversity loss.

With Arturo Escobar as the featured panelist, a fruitful exchange took place on the measurement of wealth and the possible alternatives to the GDP indicator to as a means to assess the progress and health of our societies. The discussions allowed us to better understand the concept of Buen Vivir developed in South America, as well as the need to rethink the indicators used to guide us in implementing transformative changes.

Highlighting Inspiring Initiatives

The event also provided an opportunity to present some inspiring and concrete initiatives aimed at making transformative changes in our economic and value systems. 

These include the City of Montréal's circular economy roadmap, the Government of Quebec's law on planned obsolescence, the Government of Canada's fight against single-use plastics and the City of Paris' innovative initiatives.

We congratulate them for having implemented these first solutions to the enact further transformative actions.  

As the organizer of the event, SNAP Quebec will continue to bring the Montreal Call to life and suggests the inclusion of a day dedicated to the implementation of transformative changes on the COP17 agenda.

Quotes

"We are proud that a seed of hope sown by civil society in Montreal in 2022 is now growing in Cali.  Acting on the direct causes of biodiversity loss is essential, but it is no longer enough. We need to create more opportunities for dialogue on solutions to the indirect causes, and we are putting forward the idea that the next COPs should offer a whole day dedicated to transformative changes."
- Alain Branchaud, Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Quebec Chapter (SNAP Québec)

"To confront the intertwined crises of climate, biodiversity, and inequality, we must embrace transformative change to shift the trajectory of our societies towards sustainability and justice." - Dr Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi, Chair of the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment

"The planetary crisis means that we are facing the death of Life. In the face of it, only a profound reinvention of the ways of being human makes any ethical, practical, and political sense.   First on the agenda must be a rejection of the growth paradigm, and Buen Vivir  offers a portal, and a path, in this direction." 
- Arturo Escobar,  Anthropologist, Universidad del Valle

"Quebec's Nature Plan focuses on the pressures exerted on biodiversity by production systems and the way in which we carry out certain commercial agricultural, aquacultural or forestry activities, as well as certain sports and leisure activities, which can represent direct or indirect threats to the maintenance of the services provided by nature. If we are to succeed in reversing the loss of biodiversity by 2030, it is crucial that we take greater account of biodiversity in our actions in all areas, in order to reduce pollution, over-consumption and the waste of natural resources." 
- Jacob Matin Malus, Assistant Deputy Minister for Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Parks, Ministry of Environment, Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec

*	Event speakers " From Montreal to Cali: building bridges to operate transformative change"

Opening speeches:

• Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia and President of COP16, and COP16 president
• Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
• Mauricio Mira Pontón, Director of the Environmental Authority of the City of Cali
• Alain Branchaud, Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Quebec Chapter (SNAP Québec)
• Dr Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi, Chair of the IPBES transformative change assessment

Panel on buen vivir and wealth indicators:

• Brian Czech, Executive Director, Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
• Arturo Escobar, Anthropologist, University of Valle
• Éric Pineault, Professor, Environmental Sciences Institute of the University of Quebec in Montreal
• Alice de Swarte, Strategic Advisor, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Quebec Chapter (SNAP Québec)

Responses to the Montral Call:

• Michèle Picard, Executive Consultant, Office of Ecological Transition and Resilience, City of Montreal
• François Moreau, Director, Urban Ecology Agency, City of Paris
• Jacob Martin-Malus, Assistant deputy minister for biodiversity, wildlife, and parks, Ministry of Environment, Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec
• Tara Shannon, Assistant Deputy Minister, Canadian Wildlife Service, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada

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SOURCE SNAP Québec

Ingrid Cornec, Communications Advisor, SNAP Québec, Cell : 514 378-3880, [email protected]