Title

Operationalizing Self-Determined Access: Designing Access Pathways for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities under the Cali Fund

Co-organizers

• International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB)

• Indigenous Women Biodiversity Network (IWBN)

• ICCA Consortium

• Macquarie University

• Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (JOAS)

• Working Group ICCAs Indonesia (WGII)

To be invited

• Interested Parties (including Brazil as suggested discussant)
• UNDP Small Grants Programme (speaker)
• CBD Secretariat (participant/contributor)

Context and Rationale

Decision 16/2 established the Cali Fund as the multilateral mechanism for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources. As the Fund moves towards operationalization, it presents an important opportunity to strengthen implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), while recognising the longstanding contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

The Decision also provides that, where appropriate and subject to national circumstances and legislation, at least half of the funding of the global fund should support the self-identified needs of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, including women and youth, through government authorities or by direct payments through institutions identified by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Translating this commitment into practice is now one of the key implementation challenges facing the Cali Fund.

As discussions move from political agreement towards operationalization, an important implementation question therefore remains: how will Indigenous Peoples and local communities actually access the Fund? The answer will shape not only how resources are distributed, but also whose institutions, priorities and governance systems are recognised and supported in practice.

Emerging discussions have identified different pathways through which Indigenous Peoples and local communities may access resources, including direct access, government-facilitated access and intermediary-supported access. Each pathway may be appropriate under different legal, institutional and political contexts, but each also raises different questions concerning accountability, fiduciary arrangements, legal recognition and governance.

Rather than promoting a single institutional model, this side event proposes that self-determination should remain the guiding principle, while access pathways should be understood as an implementation design question. Direct access should remain a meaningful option wherever enabling conditions exist or can be progressively developed. Government-facilitated and intermediary-supported pathways may play important roles in some contexts, but they should strengthen, rather than substitute for, Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' own governance systems, institutions and decision-making.

The objective is therefore not to identify a single preferred institutional model, but to explore the principles, safeguards and enabling conditions that should guide future operational design. By recognising the diversity of national contexts while maintaining Indigenous self-determination as the central principle, the discussion aims to contribute to a practical, equitable and accountable approach to benefit-sharing under the Cali Fund.

The event contributes directly to the implementation of KMGBF Goal C and Target 13 on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and DSI, while also supporting Targets 20, 21, 22 and 23 relating to capacity-building, traditional knowledge, participation, gender equality and the full, equitable, inclusive and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It is also directly relevant to CBD Article 8(j), Decision 16/2 on DSI and the Cali Fund, ongoing work on resource mobilisation, and COP17 discussions on the allocation methodology and operationalization of the Cali Fund.

Objectives

• Explore what self-determined access means in the operational design of the Cali Fund.

• Explore how paragraph 21 of Decision 16/2 can be operationalised while maintaining Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' self-determination across diverse legal and institutional contexts.

• Clarify the respective roles of direct access, government-facilitated access and intermediary-supported access.

• Identify practical barriers and enabling conditions affecting different access pathways.

• Discuss safeguards needed to ensure that all access pathways remain accountable to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

• Generate practical messages to inform the continued operationalization of the Cali Fund.

Key Questions

1. What does self-determined access mean in the context of the Cali Fund?

2. Under what conditions can direct access be operationalised?

3. How can governments facilitate access without substituting Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' own decision-making?

4. When are intermediaries appropriate, and how can they remain accountable to Indigenous Peoples and local communities?

5. What principles and enabling conditions should guide future operational design under the Cali Fund?

Expected Outcomes

• A clearer shared understanding of self-determined access under the Cali Fund.

• Greater clarity regarding the respective roles of direct access, government-facilitated access and intermediary-supported access.

• Practical considerations regarding enabling conditions, safeguards and accountability.

• Key messages to support ongoing dialogue on the operationalization of the Cali Fund under Decision 16/2.

Suggested Session Structure (90 minutes)