Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries

Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries
Name	Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries
Formation	2002
Type	Intergovernmental group
Headquarters	New Delhi
Region served	Global South
Membership	Brazil; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ecuador; India; Indonesia; Madagascar; Malaysia; Mexico; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; South Africa
Leader title	Coordinating country
Leader name	India

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Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries

The Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries grouping is an intergovernmental coalition of nations with high levels of endemic species and extensive ecosystems that has engaged with multilateral processes on biodiversity and conservation policy. Founded at a meeting that connected delegations from capitals across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, the grouping has sought to influence negotiations at forums such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the World Trade Organization. Member states interact with major actors including the United Nations, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, and regional bodies like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the African Union, and the Organization of American States.

Definition and Membership

The grouping defines membership by richness of flora and fauna, levels of endemism, and sovereign claims over critical habitats on land and in coastal waters, reflected in states such as Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, and South Africa. Founding and subsequent participants convened alongside envoys from capitals like New Delhi, Brasília, Bogotá, Quito, Jakarta, Manila, Johannesburg, Lima, Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur, Yaoundé, Antananarivo, Port Moresby, and San José. The cluster interacts with specialized agencies including the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and research institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The initiative emerged after high-level dialogues in the early 2000s that connected delegations participating in events like the World Summit on Sustainable Development and meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity Parties. Political figures and technocrats from capitals previously engaged with conferences such as the Rio+20 Conference, the Earth Summit (1992), and the Johannesburg Summit helped crystallize a coalition analogous to coalitions formed within the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement. Diplomatic exchanges involved envoys from multilateral forums like the United Nations General Assembly, negotiators who previously served at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and representatives associated with bilateral partners including the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia, and Canada.

Members encompass several of the world's biodiversity hotspots identified by conservation science, including regions catalogued by organizations such as Conservation International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the World Wildlife Fund. Territories include the Amazon Rainforest, the Congo Basin, the Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands, the Mesoamerican Forests, the Sundaland, and the Coral Triangle. Scientific networks from universities like Harvard University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, University of Tokyo, and institutions such as the Monash University and National Autonomous University of Mexico collaborate on inventories with museums like the American Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum, London. Criteria referenced include endemic species counts used in assessments by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, red-listing by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and habitat mapping produced by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

The coalition advances priorities in access and benefit-sharing frameworks influenced by instruments like the Nagoya Protocol and negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and seeks policy space vis-à-vis intellectual property regimes administered via the World Intellectual Property Organization and adjudicated in cases within the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system. It emphasizes sustainable management of resources tied to markets regulated by agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and financing linked to mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility. Members coordinate on legal and technical issues with actors such as the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and specialized NGOs including Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and BirdLife International.

The group engages in bilateral and multilateral partnerships spanning diplomatic channels like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP processes, conservation forums such as the IUCN World Conservation Congress, and trade dialogues with blocs like the European Union and Mercosur. Scientific cooperation has linked national agencies such as India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Brazil's Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and research centers including the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the International Rice Research Institute. Collaborative projects have been co-funded or supported by entities such as the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Gavi, and philanthropic foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Achievements include coordinated stances during CBD COP negotiations, contributions to capacity building in taxonomic science with partners like the Royal Society and the National Science Foundation, and regional conservation initiatives involving the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization and the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. Initiatives cover national protected-area expansions akin to those in Costa Rica and legislative reforms paralleling measures in Mexico and South Africa. Persistent challenges involve reconciling development goals under frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals with conservation actions, negotiating benefit-sharing in biotechnology disputes before bodies such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, and mobilizing finance comparable to commitments at the Paris Agreement and pledges processed through the Green Climate Fund. Future trajectories depend on interactions with donor forums including the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations, research consortia like the Census of Marine Life, and global policy platforms such as the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Category:International environmental organizations