COP17 Formalizes Indigenous Governance in CBD After Decades of Exclusion, Yet Implementation Gaps Persist Amid Corporate Capture of Biodiversity Finance

The COP17 decision creates a Permanent Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) but fails to enshrine the IIFB's 2022 demand for 'direct access' to biodiversity finance — a gap that replicates the Green Climate Fund's Indigenous Peoples Policy, where 98% of funds still flow through accredited entities (World Bank, UNDP) rather than Indigenous-led funds like the Mesoamerican Territorial Fund. Anishinaabe legal scholar Aimée Craft notes that 'participation without jurisdiction is consultation theater' — the new body can advise but not veto CBD decisions affecting Indigenous territories, which cover 80% of remaining biodiversity. The decision also sidesteps the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment's finding that Indigenous governance systems outperform state-protected areas in species retention, treating this evidence as 'traditional knowledge' rather than superior governance science.