In Rome, 150 countries gathered and after days of intense negotiations reached a financial agreement for the conservation of nature.
The agreement was reached on Thursday night during the COP16 on biodiversity, which had been suspended in November in Cali, Colombia due to lack of quorum.
Upon the approval of the latest version of the plan, Susana Muhamad, President of the Conference declared, “It is a historic day for biodiversity. At #COP16Resumed we achieved the adoption of the first global plan to finance the conservation of life on the planet,” she stated.
Arrival at a Financial Pact
Countries agreed to contribute 200,000 billion dollars annually by 2030. The commitment was established at the previous meeting in Montreal.
This amount includes a Financial Pact to raise 20,000 billion dollars annually for conservation in developing countries by 2025, increasing to 30,000 billion dollars annually by 2030. The Global Biodiversity Framework aims to protect 30% of the planet and restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
This week, the creation of the “Cali Fund” was also agreed upon, which will design methods for industries that benefit economically from biodiversity to contribute to its conservation.
Closure of COP16 in Rome
At the end of the meeting on Thursday night in Rome, participants stood up and applauded for the results achieved.
“The applause is for all of you. You have done an incredible job,” said COP16 President, Susana Muhamad from Colombia.
The successful outcome of COP16 is the first United Nations meeting in many months that ended on a positive note.
“These working days in Rome have demonstrated the commitment of the parties to advance in the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework,” stated Muhamad, who is also a former Minister of Environment of Colombia. Muhamad stated that it was the collective effort of all stakeholders that resulted in the agreement of key decisions. “Only by working together can we make Peace with Nature a reality,” she affirmed.
Oscar Soria, Executive Director of The Common Initiative, a group of experts, said that the decision of UN negotiators marked “a positive step” towards funding efforts in biodiversity, establishing clear goals, and a review process.
“However, effectiveness will depend on the implementation of commitments, on the availability of funding, and on the political will of countries to increase their contributions,” he added.
Beyond Cali / Rome
After more than 20 years of empty appeals by the COP of the CBD, the decision on resource mobilization managed to connect the issue of biodiversity financing with the broader package of reforms of the global financial architecture currently being debated in various global forums.
The next crucial step is in Seville, where biodiversity must be fully included in decisions of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4 – Seville, Spain, June 30 to July 3, 2025). This will be a unique opportunity in a decade, but check out the zero draft here: the text does not reflect the objectives and targets of the KMGBF, so there is much room for improvement for biodiversity financing, which will require stronger mobilization on the road to Seville.
Source: AP/ The Common Initiative
