Pooling collective intelligence for sustainable change: the montpellier process through and beyond cbd cop16 

1. At the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Cali, Colombia, the Montpellier Process (MP) brought a clear message: effective food systems transformation must align with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to drive sustainable development. This alignment not only maximizes food systems’ contributions to biodiversity and sustainability targets but also embeds them into strategies that can address complex challenges across the interconnected feed-care-protect nexus. 

The Montpellier Process is a unique learning collective and a community-owned process, convened by an alliance of partners with a shared goal to model more effective, iterative, and better coordinated Science-Policy-Society Interfaces (SPSIs). 

In March 2024, 300 scientists, policy makers and civil society representatives from 60 countries came together to explore how knowledge communities can pool their collective intelligence to accelerate action towards a sustainable future, with food systems as entry points to the interconnected feed-care-protect challenges.  

At COP16, over 1,200 people participated in multiple Montpellier Process events, bringing together scientists, policymakers, and civil society representatives from various countries to explore pathways for sustainability through food systems transformation. 

Why Aligning Food Systems and Biodiversity Goals Matters 

When the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework are incorporated into food systems strategies, it accelerates the development of sustainable practices that benefit both human and environmental health. However, achieving this integration requires more than consensus; it requires intentional, iterative, and flexible systems that can adapt to shifting needs and diverse knowledge sources. 

COP16 provided an ideal platform for the Montpellier Process to deepen its work across multiple levels and sectors, creating valuable opportunities for collaboration. The event allowed participants to connect people and initiatives from various scales and sectors, creating a flow of local insights that can inform global actions. Beyond conventional negotiations, the Montpellier Process also built alternative dialogue spaces where consensus could be cultivated by both identifying shared ambitions and acknowledging differing viewpoints. This setting enabled the testing of the MP’s theory of change, which centers on a dynamic feedback loop linking local, national, and global interactions, known as “Lo-Glo-Lo”. 

Through these efforts, the Montpellier Process demonstrated its potential to drive impactful, multi-stakeholder collaboration and to scale up solutions for sustainable food systems. 

Action-Driven Communities and Use Cases in the Spotlight 

In the lead-up to COP16, the Montpellier Process collaborated with four action-driven communities through practical Use Cases, each offering a unique geographic and sectoral perspective on sustainable development. They addressed solutions and innovations spanning city-to-territory levels, national policies, international trade frameworks, and diverse knowledge systems, thereby highlighting different approaches to sustainability. 

For example, the Cities-Territories Use Case explored urban-rural dynamics through partnerships in São Paulo, Montpellier, and Cali, positioning cities as key drivers of sustainable practices. The National Policies Use Case brought together countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Vietnam, and Belgium, facilitating dialogue on integrating biodiversity and food systems alignment within national strategies. In the International Trade Policy Use Case, guided by the OECD and IDDRI, regional (EU) and global (WTO) scales were linked to assess the influence of trade policies on food systems and biodiversity. Finally, the Diverse Knowledge Systems session, curated by the Universidad Nacional of Colombia, benefited from the engagement of two Indigenous communities, the Misak and Ampiuile, to integrate local and traditional knowledge with scientific perspectives. 

Key Insights and Takeaways from COP16 

The Montpellier Process left COP16 with invaluable insights for accelerating collective intelligence towards sustainable food systems transformation: 

1. Moving Beyond Consensus: Transformation requires constructive spaces for dialogue that embrace disagreements and complexities, allowing communities to navigate controversies and build on shared values.
2. Embracing Tensions and Pain Points: Addressing diverse interests, political contexts, and knowledge gaps directly can lead to more cohesive and adaptable solution pathways.
3. Leveraging Local Actions: Despite slow national and international progress on meeting the Feed, Care, and Protect objectives, cities and local governments often demonstrate effective on-the-ground actions. The Montpellier Process highlighted the importance of these local actions in driving change.
4. Iterative, Multi-Level Transformation: Sustainable change does not follow a linear path. Instead of solely focusing on scaling local solutions, the Montpellier Process advocates for simultaneous local and global actions.
5. Documenting Progress and Learning from Successes and Challenges: By capturing experiences and successes across scales, the Montpellier Process can document what works and what doesn’t, creating shared learning across and between scales.
6. Inclusive Dialogue with Underrepresented Voices: Essential contributors to sustainable solutions—such as youth, farmers, and Indigenous and local communities—must have a place in decision-making processes.
7. Revisiting the Role of Science: Science must move beyond evidence provision to actively engage with transformation by incorporating diverse knowledge systems and addressing trade-offs in a holistic way.
8. Contributing to Global Biodiversity Targets: The Montpellier Process’s capacity to align with global goals and targets like KMGBF targets on incentives (T18), finance (T19), capacity building (T20), accessible knowledge (T21), and participatory decision-making (T22) makes it a vital contributor to the GBF.
9. Designing Institutional Arrangements for Science-Policy-Society Interfaces: There is an urgent need and scope to design and implement institutional arrangements that support iterative interactions within and between science- policy-society interfaces. 

What’s Next for the Montpellier Process? 

Building on the momentum from COP16, the Montpellier Process will continue to catalyze action and learning at multiple levels. In 2025, key global gatherings such as the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris, the Stockholm Food Forum, and Climate COP30 in Belém, Brazil, will serve as platforms for furthering the Montpellier Process’s objectives. These events, along with ongoing national and sub-national dialogues, will allow the Montpellier Process to deepen its engagement with diverse knowledge holders and action practitioners. 

With support from organizations such as CGIAR Nexus Gains, IDRC, Agropolis International, and CIRAD, the Montpellier Process is set to strengthen its role as a bridge-builder. Through continued collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and innovation, the Montpellier Process aims to develop more sustainable, equitable, and biodiversity-aligned food systems for a resilient future.