Statement

Campaign for Nature Statement On Newly Announced Global Biodiversity Fund

The approval by the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) governing board to establish a new fund to finance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) is a welcome step forward in the urgent need to mobilize more funding for nature in developing countries where biodiversity is concentrated.

Campaign for Nature would like to extend its gratitude to the staff, governing board and country representatives who worked diligently in the months following COP15 and in person at the GEF Council meeting in Brazil to reach this point. We are glad to see that a significant portion of resources from this fund will go to Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States as well as to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.  

Attention must now quickly turn to materializing the financial resources needed to make the Global Biodiversity Fund and other nature conservation funds a success. At COP15, wealthy nations agreed to commit at least $20B by 2025. We will look forward to the GEF Assembly in Vancouver for a credible plan or indication that wealthy nations are on a path to meet this commitment. This is of paramount importance, if the target is to be met and if the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework can be effectively implemented.

Nature is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. There is no time to waste.