For its first-time participation, MIT dispatched a comprehensive delegation to the global convention of the Events for the 2022 Conference on Organic Diversity, held in October. 21 to Nov. 1 in Cali, Colombia.
Ten delegates from MIT, comprising college researchers, students, and faculty from the Environmental Options Initiative, EECS, CSAIL, DUSP, IDSS, and the Center for Sustainability Science and Technology attended COP16.
Initially, MIT’s involvement in debates was intermittent and inconsistent. This coordinated initiative, spearheaded by ESI, had a significant impact as it brought together representatives from numerous teams focused on biodiversity across the Institute; showcased MIT’s extensive research in over 15 sessions, including panels, roundtables, and keynote presentations throughout the Blue and Green Zones of the convention – the former hosting official negotiations and discussions, while the latter featured public events.
The convention also brought together attendees from governments, non-governmental organizations, companies, various educational institutions, and practitioners focused on halting global biodiversity loss and driving forward the (KMGBF), a globally agreed framework adopted in 2022 to guide international efforts to conserve and restore biodiversity by 2030.
MIT’s impact was particularly notable in tackling goals related to building alliances among sub-national governments (Targets 11, 12, 14), leveraging AI-driven expertise for biodiversity preservation (Targets 20, 21); fostering equitable market dynamics (Targets 3, 11, 19); and developing a comprehensive action plan for Afro-descendant communities (Targets 3, 10, 22).
The ESI’s Pure Local weather Options (NCS) Program effectively supported two distinct Latin American city coalitions: the Coalition of Cities Against Illicit Economies in the Biogeographic Chocó Area and the Colombian Amazonian Cities coalition, which successfully signed declarations to drive progress toward specific KMGBF goals – namely targets 11, 12, and 14.
Through roundtable discussions and collaborative efforts, crew members Marcela Angel, analysis program director at MIT’s ESI; Angelica Mayolo, 2023-25 ESI Martin Luther King Fellow; and MIT Grasp’s in Metropolis Planning college students Silvia Duque and Hannah Leung developed a comprehensive set of multi-scale actions. These initiatives include transnational strategies, recommendations for bolstering local and regional institutions, and community-based projects aimed at preserving the Biogeographic Chocó as an ecological corridor.
“There is a pressing need to strengthen the bond between academia and local authorities in cities located within biodiversity hotspots,” said Angel. Given the unique scale and situational complexities of Amazonian cities, the pilot analysis offers an opportunity to validate and develop a concept proof. These initiatives may help catalyze information needed to upscale local weather adaptation and conservation efforts in environmentally and socially vulnerable regions.
At the COP16 framework, a coalition comprising Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica jointly launched the Fund for the Biogeographic Chocó Area, a multi-donor fund that significantly benefited from ESI’s comprehensive analysis, providing crucial insights for its establishment. The fund aims to promote biodiversity conservation, restore ecosystems, mitigate and adapt to local climate change, and support sustainable development initiatives across the region.
As information, expertise, and synthetic intelligence increasingly intersect, they’re playing a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of global biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Professor Sara Beery’s research team is dedicated to bridging the gap between artificial intelligence and biodiversity conservation, developing innovative AI-powered solutions for real-time tracking and monitoring of species populations and ecosystems across vast geographical, temporal, and phylogenetic scales.
Throughout the COP16 phase, the high-level panel focused on outlining recommendations from scientific and tutorial groups, with Beery joining María Cecilia Londoño, scientific information supervisor at the Humboldt Institute and co-chair of the International Biodiversity Observations Community, along with Josh Tewksbury, director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, among others, to explore how technological advancements can help humanity achieve its biodiversity targets. The panel underscored the imperative need for AI innovation, stressing the importance of direct human-AI collaboration, building AI capabilities, and ensuring fair access and profitability through knowledge and AI literacy.
As a direct outcome of the session, for the first time, AI was highlighted within the statement on behalf of science and academia delivered by Hernando Garcia, director of the Humboldt Institute, and David Skorton, secretary general of the Smithsonian Institution, to the high-level segment of the COP16.
To effectively navigate the complexities of present and future environmental hurdles, a concerted effort is necessary to advance fair processes, effective governance, accurate valuation, robust infrastructure, and inclusive frameworks for decolonizing and expanding biodiversity knowledge and artificial intelligence applications.
Beery also orchestrated a thought-provoking panel discussion at the GEOBON pavilion within the Blue Zone on leveraging Artificial Intelligence to scale up biodiversity monitoring, which brought together an esteemed group of international leaders from AI research, infrastructure development, capability building, and policy-making. The panel was convened, with specialists selected from the most recent membership list, co-organized by Beery.
At an event co-hosted by the Environmental Systems Institute (ESI) in collaboration with the CAF-Growth Financial institution of Latin America, a team of researchers from ESI’s Pure Climate Solutions Program participated, comprising Marcela Angel, Angelica Mayolo, Jimena Muzio, ESI research affiliate, and Martin Pérez Lara, ESI research affiliate and director for Forest Climate Impact and Monitoring at the World Wide Fund for Nature (U.S.). Here is the rewritten text: Introduced findings from a research titled “Voluntary Carbon Markets for Social Impact: A Comprehensive Assessment of Indigenous Peoples and Native Communities’ (IPLC) Involvement in Carbon Forestry Projects in Colombia,” which identified significant structural barriers limiting IPLC participation, and presented a novel framework to assess their engagement in voluntary carbon markets.
As a consequence of the global carbon market’s loss of credibility since 2023, sparked by critical evaluations that have cast doubt on the efficacy of mitigation measures and raised concerns about the involvement of private actors with indigenous peoples’ local communities? Despite their rapid growth, carbon forestry initiatives have proliferated across Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and native communities’ lands, underscoring the need to scrutinize the connections between external stakeholders and these communities, as well as propose avenues for fair and inclusive collaboration.
The analysis presentation, accompanied by a panel featuring representatives from Asocarbono, Fondo Acción, and CAF, offered recommendations to all stakeholders in the carbon certificate value chain, including those focused on promoting equitable benefit-sharing, ensuring compliance, increasing accountability, establishing robust governance structures, strengthening institutionality, and developing regulatory frameworks – crucial elements for creating an inclusive and transparent market.
At the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16), the Afro-Interamerican Discussion Board on Climate Change (AIFCC) attended as a global network dedicated to highlighting the crucial role that Afro-descendant communities play in international climate efforts.
At the Afro Summit, Mayolo presented collective input from AIFCC members to the CBD’s technical secretariat, outlining pivotal recommendations. The suggestions emphasize:
- Developing innovative financial tools to fund conservation efforts while also empowering Afro-descendant communities by securing their land rights.
- To strengthen partnerships with countries recognizing Afro-descendant collective land tenure, ensuring access to credit scores alongside funding for biodiversity conservation initiatives.
- Calling for a significant increase in the representation of Afro-descendant communities on global media platforms?
- capacity-building for native governments; and
- Approaches to Inclusive Progress in Unfamiliar Enterprises and Vitality Transition
These initiatives aim to promote inclusive and sustainable development for Afro-descendant communities.
MIT’s ESI Director John E. notes, “I felt privileged and honored to attend COP16 alongside a large delegation from MIT, bringing together our expertise in 15 distinct sessions.” Fernández. “This exemplifies the value of the Experimental Study Group Initiative (ESI) as a robust analytical and convening hub at MIT.” Scientific consensus is clear: local weather shifts and biodiversity decline pose the most pressing threats to our very existence as a species and a planet, necessitating immediate attention and collective action. MIT’s expertise, track record, and enthusiasm empower it to tackle both past and future challenges, with the ESI committed to streamlining the most impactful collaborations across the institute for the pivotal years ahead.
The full extent of the convention can be accessed via.
