At the recent Biodiversity COP16 in Colombia, global leaders made strides towards protecting our planet's rich biodiversity, including the establishment of a groundbreaking conservation fund. Yet, critical agreements fell short and challenges remain -- leaving a mixed legacy for the summit.

Listen to this article 12 min Listen to this article 12 min How are global efforts to preserve the rich variety of life on our planet faring? More to the point, how is the international treaty that seeks to foster this shaping up?

We are referring to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a United Nations-backed agreement whose member states meet every two years to draft plans and set priorities for conserving biodiversity.

The most recent of these meetings, the 16th in a series of the Convention of the Parties, drew to a close in Cali, Colombia, last month. It's known colloquially as the Biodiversity COP to distinguish it from the more famous (and complementary) UNFCCC COP climate treaty and its summits.

Well, to answer our opening questions, were it a schoolboy, Biodiversity COP16's end-of-year report might read: Shows promise, but can do better. Increasingly thoughtful in interactions with others, but lacks focus and follow-through.

Certainly, speakers at Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation's 28th Tipping Points webinar felt there was plenty about the summit to both pan and praise.

Katy Roxburgh, the facilitator of the 27 November webinar, who was also in Cali, noted that after two weeks of negotiations, the...