Official Statement
Announcing "$20bn x 25 for nature"
The Launch of a Global Campaign to achieve the $20bn Nature Finance target by 2025
Resource Mobilization is critical to ensure the successful implementation of the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (the “GBF”) agreed at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15. To that end, on the occasion of “International Day for Biological Diversity”, a coalition of civil society organizations are launching a global campaign to ensure that the commitment in Target 19a of the GBF - for developed countries to provide at least US$20 billion of biodiversity finance to developing countries annually - is met by 2025 and that there is momentum to achieve at least US$ 30bn annually by 2030.
Our organizations call on:
Developed countries and “countries that voluntarily assume obligations of developed country Parties” to urgently accelerate efforts to increase finance to developing countries to meet the at least $20bn target by 2025.
Developed country ministers of environment and finance to urgently launch an international ministerial working group to achieve target 19a.
Our organizations are prioritizing this campaign as:
The world must keep up the positive momentum that the GBF has created. Possibly more than any other issue, the successful implementation of the GBF will depend on whether the world meets its financing targets. This 2025 target is the first test.
Developing countries host much of the world’s most important biodiversity and will bear a disproportionate part of the responsibility and costs of delivering key goals of the GBF.
Indigenous Peoples conserve a significant percentage of the world’s remaining biodiversity, which makes it critical that developed countries also support direct access to fund Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to achieve target 19f.
Developed countries have a historic and pragmatic responsibility to provide increased support to developing countries. US$ 20 billion is a small but important contribution to developing countries’ stewardship of the biological resources and ecosystem services that the global community depends on.
Donor governments can deliver this promise made at COP15 if they prioritize investment in a liveable planet. It will create high economic returns while avoiding future costs associated with biodiversity loss, climate change and the prevention of pandemics.
Closing the total biodiversity gap of US$ 700 billion by 2030 requires a holistic approach from all sources, including international biodiversity finance, domestic resource mobilization, reform of negative subsidies and scaling up of positive incentives in an effective, timely and easily accessible manner, while guaranteeing social and environmental safeguards, and ensuring the fulfillment of human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples. However, the most immediate finance deadline is the 2025 target of at least US$ 20 billion of international finance from developed to developing countries. This can only be achieved, if there is tangible progress in advance of COP16.
For more information on the ground in Nairobi:
Bernadette Fischler Hooper - bfischler@wwfint.org, Nina Mikander - nina.mikander@birdlife.org,
Georg Schwede - georg@campaignfornature.com, Irene Wabiwa iwabiwa@greenpeace.org
For General Media Enquiries:
Katy Roxburgh - katy@campaignfornature.com and August Rick arick@greenpeace.org