The world’s largest ever conference on biodiversity – COP16 – is coming to a close in Cali, Colombia. It’s a good time to think about progress, and what coaches can do for nature recovery.
Conferences – too little, too late?
COP16 is the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity – and the first since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
The Guardian reports the KMGBF deal as including ‘targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade (30×30), reform $500bn (then £410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and begin restoring 30% of the planet’s degraded ecosystems.’
It would be easy to suggest these conferences have wholeheartedly failed, when we look at the global declines in wildlife, growth in average global temperatures and rise in catastrophic climate events – most recently in Valencia, Spain. COPs have been criticised for the role of richer nations in watering down commitments; in the lack of representation of indigenous communities and less developed countries; and the lack of consequences for failure to meet targets.
COP16 in Cali has raised only 0.2% of the $200Bn per year for biodiversity agreed by KMGBF, and it is clear that there is too little concerted action.
Change is possible
But these conferences and their agreements are essential for nature recovery – alongside other means of change including campaigning, peaceful direct action, shareholder pressure and behaviour change – and we would be facing a worse future without these international efforts. For the KMGBF targets, there are 5 more years to go.
It’s so hard not to lose faith, but as Martin Luther King once said, we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. That’s our call from youth for the future. We must never lose hope… let’s unite in a shared global movement for peace with nature, we can change because we are the change.
Sebastian Amler, representative from NAJU, Junior wing of Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, Germany
Climate Change COPs have agreed to globally binding CO2 targets, fossil fuel phase out, renewables expansion. Recent negotiations have seen increased influence from small island states, and emphasis of climate adaptation as well as mitigation.
Previous COPs have led to significant global mechanisms for nature recovery, and climate change. The first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, led to the first UN Convention on Climate Change, signed by 154 nation states. Another agreement, on Biodiversity Action Planning, brought together public, private and charity partners in local places to agree challenging targets for nature. I was invovled in the establishment of the London Biodiversity Action Plan, and led its partnership through the early 2000s.
If we put together all the knowledge systems we have – science, technology, traditional knowledge – we can give the best of us to protect our peoples, protect our planet, and protect the ecosystem that we are losing.
Hindou Oumarou Imbrahim, President of the Association for the Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad
Signs of progress at COP16
COP16 in Cali has encouraged over 500 major global corporations and financial institutions to disclose their nature impacts as part of company reporting. This is a level of transparancy that shareholders and the public have not previously had access to and should help in holding business to account for their impact on natural ecosystems.
The EU has reaffirmed its commitment to halting and reversing biodiversity loss worldwide by 2030, and doubling external funding for biodiversity from 2021 to 2027 to €7 billion.
The conference also agreed to establish a subsidiary body that will include Indigenous peoples in future talks and decisions on nature conservation.
What can coaches do?
So what can coaches do for nature recovery? Iis easy to feel helpless in the face of challenges this complex, this vast, this seemingly immovable. But giving up is not the answer. Compassionate action is. Coaches are good at compassion – we recognise the suffering of our clients, and are motivated to act with loving kindness.
There are many ways we can generate our own sense of agency. Here are some suggestions.
Educate yourself
Coaches – in my view – should be as educated and engaged with climate and nature issues, as we are with transactional analysis, cognitive behavioural techniques, or the latest model of emotional intelligence. A healthy relationship with ourselves depends on healthy relationship between ourselves and the planet.
Align your work to the planet
As a coach, please think about how your work is creating outcomes for nature. One way to do this is by aligning with the philosophy and practice of Nature Based Coaching and Climate Change Coaching.
Whether you work with schools, banks, technology companies, small businesses, environmental organisations – your clients create change. Bringing nature and climate to these clients is an opportunity to make a difference through what you do – and enhance your capability and impact as a coaching professional too.
I am developing a course for Nature Based Coaches, you can find out more here: The Natural Coaching Course.
Be with nature
Developing our personal relationship with the natural world is central to our health and wellbeing, happiness and potential as eco-actors. Nature connected people take twice as much environmnent action in daily life, and 1.7 times more action for nature. Get amongst it, and you will feel the benefits right away.
If you’re not sure how, follow the ‘5 pathways’ set out in my book here.
Be an activist
Use your power as a citizen and voter to create change. Whether it’s lobbying your Member of Parliament, participating in peaceful direct action, community organising, creative art projects, there are so many ways.
Reduce your footprint
You generally have a choice how you travel, what you eat, and where you shop. Travel and food tend to be large contributors to our ecological footprints – you can calculate yours here. You can choose to buy less stuff, eat less (or no) meat, and choose renewable energy.
You can make space for nature in your garden at home, if you have one – or in a window box, or on a balcony. There are many other simple suggestions in our book ‘Being in Nature’.
And if you don’t think individual behaviour change makes a difference, think again. As my article ‘No good life without nature: The value of ‘getting amongst it’ for coaches and leaders’ states:
The actions within our individual gift are considered to make up over a third of those necessary to keep runaway climate change at bay.
UNEP & IUCN, 2021
Give
Join The Climate Coaching Alliance. It’s a great place to learn, and volunteer your time and energy.
You might choose to link your business profits to planetary outcomes directly. There is some controversy around ‘offsetting’ – but I have seen coaching companies planting trees through reputable and sustainable schemes such as Trees for Life, or making charitable donations.
Here at The Natural Coaching Company, we are proud to donate 2% of profits to independently verified Gold Standard sustainable development projects.