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Dear network, This week, I had the opportunity to attend COP16 Colombia. After my participation inside the Blue Zone 🔵, I want to share my perspectives on the event. • First, about the possibility of having Cali, Colombia, my hometown, as the host of the event. Cali is the capital of the Chocó Biogeographic Region, a rich ecosystem that has had many challenges related to conservation. Hystorically, we have dealt with violence, lack of financing to develop conservation initiatives and programs, and lack of social representation in decision-making spaces. We have had to deal with these problems, and we have had to come with solutions to protect our ecosystems. Communities have been the resilient protectors of nature and our governments have had to develop one of the most robust environmental regulations of the region to tackle our reality. Having Cali as the host of COP16 Colombia forces the parties at this international space to feel environmental issues close to their own reality, so it is possible to materialize the Global Biodiversity Framework through the proposition of concrete actions and the mobilisation of the financial resources to achieve its targets. • Second, about the interaction between water and biodiversity. Inevitably, water is brought up at the table when biodiversity is discussed. The parties must keep pushing efforts to protect water resources if we want to achieve the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework. In Latin America, for example, there is an urgent need for developing environmental regulations, notably water regulation, in many countries. In addition, it is necessary to promote a basin approach to the management of water resources since many countries consider water from a system perspective, an aspect that does not allow to implement integral water resource management plans that include biodiversity conservation. Moreover, climate change impacts on water resources have not been sufficiently assessed in infrastructure projects and current regulations have not mandated this analysis. Finally, bottom-up approaches to the conservation of water resources are disregarded, and in practice, this means that communities have had to fight for water resources on their own. • Third, about sustainable development. Sustainability is not an idea that is put in a company's mission to improve its image anymore, it's a framework that must be implemented at all levels of society. The world urges that sustainability becomes the core of development, and this requires a change of paradigm from the conception, production and implementation of projects. We need to agree on the metrics that we use to measure the achievement of sustainability, and we need to focus on real-world implementation, not just rhetoric. Once metrics are set, the priority must be action. Let's make efforts for our biodiversity! #COP16 | #Water | World Youth Parliament for Water | Secrétariat international de l'eau - International Secretariat for Water