The past Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity had one of the largest levels of civil society participation in the green zone. This space, which has traditionally been designed for the presence and voice of NGOs and local actors, was one of the most outstanding spaces, as it reached a participation and attendance of close to one million people during COP16. The number of organizations present, external attendees and activities carried out show a broad level of involvement and a significant interest of civil society in being part of these global discussions related to the conservation of terrestrial and marine areas, the restoration of degraded ecosystems and the reduction of damage to biodiversity in the world. 

Despite this growing influence, however, the limits to civil society participation are clear in the very conception of the Conference. Barriers such as those mentioned previously in this Newsletter in the article by Camilo Durán, are evident and constant in this type of international advocacy space. However, the sustained increase in the number of organizations participating and attending these academic and cultural activities demonstrates that civil society wants to be part of the global discussions on biodiversity conservation. In this context, the construction of a robust civil society with a strengthened voice in terms of the defense of the environment, biodiversity and human rights is becoming increasingly necessary. 

For this reason, in this article we will highlight the importance of developing strategies to strengthen civil society organizations (CSOs) as a way that improves or enhances the voice of organizations and social movements in international advocacy spaces such as COP16. This, with the understanding that it is essential to advance towards a model of environmental governance that integrates the demands and knowledge of civil society in the decisions that impact ecosystems and communities at the global level.

Enlaza Region: Strengthening Civil Society for Advocacy

While it is true that civil society organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities were able to attend and lead the community debate open to the public, the decisions and major agreements resulting from the Conference were made by the delegates of the States Parties without the direct participation of civil society. The dynamics of this space reveal an important challenge: how can we strengthen civil society so that it is not only heard and has a physical space to articulate its voices, but is also a decisive actor in decision-making?

Part of the answer to this question lies in the potential of tools such as the strengthening of civil society organizations, as they are conceived as spaces to collaborate with each other and reinforce knowledge and capacities to increase their impact. It is clear that this strengthening does not directly affect the decision of the United Nations to maintain partially separate spaces between civil society and the States. However, issues such as training in technical topics and specialized vocabulary, knowledge of negotiation mechanisms, and even skills in resource mobilization strategies to finance assistance to these types of spaces, are issues that can be improved through strengthening processes.

All of the above, coupled with the closure of civic space and the democratic crisis in Latin America, have imposed major obstacles to CSOs, particularly those dedicated to the defense of the environment, biodiversity and human rights. In this context, in 2022 we created Enlaza Región, Dejusticia’s civil society strengthening program, through which we lead accompaniment processes for civil society and community-based organizations in Latin America. Here, we contribute to consolidate their work based on their needs, both organizational and programmatic, so that we can enhance the voice of civil society in the region and make it stronger to continue transforming realities in the midst of economic crises, widespread inequalities, reduced civic space and authoritarianism.

Towards environmental governance: the centrality of civil society in international advocacy spaces

During 2023 and 2024 we have worked with more than 100 organizations in Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. Within the framework of Enlaza Región, we designed plans that aim to give support in their struggles for social and environmental justice. This work is key for organizations to be able to have an impact in international spaces such as COP16, as they are accompaniments that not only improve the technical and operational capacities of the organizations, but also broaden their knowledge of regulatory frameworks and their rights to participation and access to environmental information. For example, the work with the Uma Kiwe Madre Tierra Corporation provided the organization with knowledge about socio-environmental conflicts arising from open-pit mining, strengthening the Putumayo organization’s capacity to defend its territory and articulate these demands in virtual platforms for content dissemination.

Similarly, strengthening efforts such as those developed with the Mutual Comunal Agroalimentaria Agrocomunal (AGROCOMUNAL) and the Fundación de Mujeres Afroamazónicas UBUNTU (FREMA) on issues of food security and sovereignty, highlight how local processes of self-sufficiency and conservation of native species are essential not only for resilience to climate change, but also for positioning agricultural biodiversity in global agendas. 

We also developed strengthening processes with peasant organizations such as the Asociación Campesina y Ambiental del Losada-Guayabero (ASCAL-G) and the Asociación Campesina del Catatumbo (ASCAMCAT) in order to strengthen the creation and impact of the Peasant Reserve Zones. This policy not only allows them to defend the land, but also enables the harmonization of environmental conservation and peasant territoriality.

These programmatic strengthening plans not only enhance the communities’ contributions to biodiversity, but also contribute to their process of interacting with greater confidence and knowledge in strategic forums. This was the case, for example, of peasant organizations such as the Asociación Campesina Cordillera de los municipios de Montañita, Florencia, Paujil y Doncello (Acomflopad), the Asociación Nacional de Zonas de Reserva Campesina (Anzorc), the Asociación de Autoridades Tradicionales Indígenas del Pueblo Awá-UNIPA and the Fundación Caminos de Identidad FUCAI, all of which participated in forums and discussions within the framework of COP16. 

These are just a few examples of how our Enlaza Región civil society strengthening program not only allows us to support organizations to strengthen the work they already do, but also allows us to indirectly influence their social and environmental struggles, which are also our social and environmental struggles.

Enlaza Región is a work strategy created by and for civil society. This program has become a tool so that, on the one hand, we can strengthen ourselves as civil society and thus strengthen our democracies. And, on the other hand, for organizations to strengthen themselves internally and externally, so that they can cope with shrinking civic spaces.  These types of strategies reinforce civil society’s capacity to impact social and environmental policies by amplifying local voices and acquiring more and better tools that allow them to move from spaces of collaboration and network building to spaces of decision making. Strengthening as a way to increase impact has the potential to build environmental governance that translates advocacy into concrete actions and can be reflected in international spaces such as COP16.