UN nature summit approves Indigenous consultative body

The COP16 summit has agreed to create a permanent body to represent Indigenous interests on biodiversity issues. The approval is the first major breakthrough at the conference in Colombia.

The world's biggest conference on nature conservation agreed on Friday to create a permanent body for Indigenous peoples to give advice on "matters of relevance to Indigenous peoples and local communities."

The decision was the first big breakthrough to be achieved at the UN COP16 summit in Cali, Colombia, attended by delegations from some 200 countries.

The almost two-week conference went into extra time on its last day on Friday amid differences on how to raise funding for plans to preserve nature.

'Unprecedented moment'

 "This is an unprecedented moment in the history of multilateral agreements on the environment," Camila Romero, an Indigenous representative from Chile, told delegates after the measure was adopted.

"Parties have recognized the constant need for our full and effective participation, our knowledge and innovations, technology and traditional practices," she added.

The delegates also agreed on a measure giving people of African descent a specific role in the new subsidiary body, though initial details were vague.

The UN conference aims to implement measures contained in the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework agreement, which seeks to stop the current rapid human-driven deterioration of nature by 2030.

tj/kb (AFP, Reuters)