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Two years ago, at the COP15 UN biodiversity summit in Montreal, 196 countries agreed to set up a fund for projects to conserve and restore nature – but it has struggled to attract large contributions. Now, at COP16 in Cali, government negotiators are clashing over what to do with it.
A group of developing countries – concerned about their access to the existing fund – is pushing a proposal to establish a new fund for biodiversity under the COP. The plan is for it to replace the one created in Montreal, which is managed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and offer biodiversity-rich developing countries a bigger say in how it is run.
“Biodiversity finance should be flowing to where biodiversity is. The voice of countries bearing a greater burden should count more than it does in the GEF governance system,” Brazilian negotiator André Aranha Corrêa do Lago said at the opening session of COP16 on Monday.
Experts told Climate Home News the future of the fund could become the biggest issue for debate at the Colombia summit, adding that disagreements over the developing-country proposal were starting to obstruct progress on other finance negotiations.
COP16 confronts “huge” challenge of protecting 30% of world’s land and sea
Old divisions re-emerge
In 2022, countries decided to host the newly created Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) at the GEF – a multilateral agency co-founded by the World Bank and other UN agencies – through to 2030, with the option to extend the arrangement after that year.
Some developing nations strongly opposed the GEF as host of the fund, fearing they would not have enough influence over it, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) objecting to the entire new global nature pact agreed in Montreal due to the row about the fund.
Decisions about what to do with the fund’s money are made by a council that has 16 members from developing countries, 14 from developed countries, and two from the countries of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
The fund is supposed to provide “enhanced access for Indigenous peoples and local communities, according to their own priorities”. But, in a recent briefing shared with Climate Home, Survival International argues that conflating Indigenous peoples and local communities is “highly problematic” – and claims the GEF does not have adequate safeguards to ensure consent from Indigenous people.
Survival International, a campaign group for the rights of tribal people, also says the fund’s portfolio “so far is dominated by UN agencies and a select handful of mostly US-based conservation organisations” and reinforces “old and failing models of top-down, colonial conservation especially through the establishment of national parks”.
This week, efforts to take management of the fund away from the GEF have resurfaced at COP16.
Brazil backs a proposal to establish a new fund designed in “an inclusive and innovative way, learning from the experience of current instruments”, Corrêa do Lago told the opening plenary. Other countries – from India and Bangladesh to South Africa and China – have also called for a more equitable and transparent approach to biodiversity funding, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
Join our COP16 WhatsApp channel for live updates from reporters on the ground
As talks ramped up during the first week of the conference in Colombia, divisions started to surface. Canada, for example, rejected the idea of a new fund during a finance session on Tuesday.
“The proposal to create a new donor-based fund or financial mechanism would serve to further fragment the biodiversity finance landscape and lead to increased administrative costs, without mobilizing new donor funding,” reads the Canadian statement.
One source inside the negotiating rooms told Climate Home News the DRC said it would not proceed with any discussions on finance until the issue of the funding mechanism was resolved.
The chair of Working Group 1, Charlotta Sörqvist from Sweden, during biodiversity finance discussions at COP16. (Photo: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis)
“Toxic” issue
According to Thomas Pickford, UK policy and partnerships lead at The Nature Conservancy, the future of the UN biodiversity fund has “real potential to be an obstacle for progress”.
“It’s kind of become a toxic issue that we’re trying to work through,” he told Climate Home News. “There’s obviously a big disagreement between donor countries and recipient countries.”
WWF’s head of global advocacy, Bernadette Fischler Hooper, said wealthy countries could build trust by sending strong signals on their funding commitments.
Finance for the GBFF’s coffers has so far been scarce. Developed countries have pledged around $243 million, of which the fund has received nearly $194 million, with COP15 host Canada – which made the largest commitment – yet to pay in the full amount.
The pledges to the GBFF, from just a handful of countries, are only a fraction of the COP15 target for donor governments to provide $20 billion a year for biodiversity protection by 2025, rising to $30 billion by 2030.
Broader development funding from donors for efforts to protect and restore nature grew from $11.1 billion in 2021 to $15.4 billion in 2022, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – but much of it came in the form of loans.
Reform needed?
So far, the GBFF has approved 22 projects, mainly to be implemented in the Global South but nearly all managed by large accredited organisations including multilateral development banks, UN agencies and Global North green groups like WWF and Conservation International.
At COP16, some developing countries said the number of projects was low partly due to difficulties in accessing the money. In a statement during the finance talks, Uruguay noted that of 66 projects applying for the second round of GBFF grants, only 18 were approved.
WWF’s Fischler Hooper called for “flexibility and openness from countries to have a conversation about all available options and unblock the current deadlock in the negotiations” on the biodiversity funding mechanism.
Pickford of The Nature Conservancy said the main options on the table are: creating a new fund in Cali, deferring the decision until COP17 in two years’ time, doing more assessments on whether a new fund is necessary, or ratifying the current fund as the final financial instrument.
He emphasised that the GBFF so far has “nowhere near enough funding” and called for reform to how the GEF runs it.
“We want streamlined access to developing countries. For Indigenous people and local communities, it’s still too hard to access funding,” he added.
(Reporting by Sebastian Rodriguez; editing by Megan Rowling and Joe Lo)
The post At COP16, countries clash over future of global fund for nature protection appeared first on Climate Home News.
At COP16, countries clash over future of global fund for nature protection
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Prepared by a coalition of nine Western Australian union, industry, conservation, and community organisations—including UnionsWA, the Conservation Council WA, and the Smart Energy Council—the WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan provides a practical roadmap to transform Western Australia into a clean energy powerhouse while creating thousands of secure local jobs.
Western Australia stands at a pivotal crossroads: lead the global clean energy economy or watch investment, future industries, and secure jobs go elsewhere. The WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan outlines a transformative blueprint to harness the state’s world-class solar and wind resources. Discover how legislated renewable targets, green iron manufacturing, and a dedicated regional training strategy can generate tens of thousands of local jobs, lower household bills, and build a resilient, net-zero future for all Western Australians.
WA needs a clear and forward-thinking plan if it is going to become a competitive renewable energy powerhouse and maintain its economic strength through the energy transition.
“Western Australians know a faster renewable energy transition will lower their household expenses and prevent harmful climate pollution. But the community also needs clear direction to ensure this transition will create jobs, lower costs and not cause undue environmental harm.
“Here, sectors representing a broad range of interests have laid the groundwork for those outcomes, clearly outlining what is needed to create a future for WA that is good for the environment, for the climate, for workers and for the economy.
Summary
The WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan sets out a strategic roadmap to position Western Australia as a global clean energy superpower while creating thousands of secure local jobs.
The report establishes three overarching goals:
- Creating local employment.
- Maintaining industrial competitiveness.
- Lowering household energy costs
To realize this vision, the framework details actionable measures to follow on from the recent WA Government announcement of a 75% Renewable Energy Target by 2031 for the South West Interconnected System. This includes developing a statewide Renewable Energy Target, coordinating statewide workforce and training pipelines, strategically planning regional infrastructure to safeguard high-value biodiversity and cultural heritage, and ensuring equitable benefit-sharing through household electrification incentives and First Nations equity partnerships. Ultimately, the plan highlights that establishing clear policy and regulatory certainty will unlock lower energy bills, boost power reliability, and secure the state’s global competitiveness in emerging green commodity export markets.
Key Findings
- Statewide Renewable Energy Target and Emissions Reduction Targets: The report calls for a statewide RET and 1.5°C aligned emission reduction targets to remove policy risk, lower capital costs, and attract clean energy investment.
- Transformative Job Creation: Accelerating the transition offers massive employment prospects, including up to 8,800 solar and battery jobs by 2050, as well as 24,000 ongoing and 11,000 construction jobs in a commercial green iron industry.
- Industrial Electrification & Competitiveness: Requiring large gas users to adopt binding electrification timetables and providing concessional financing will protect existing energy-intensive manufacturers from rising energy costs and impending domestic gas shortfalls.
- Green Commodity Export Leadership: Western Australia can build new export markets in green iron, green ammonia, and offshore oil/gas decommissioning by constructing shared common-user infrastructure and setting dedicated Green Commodity Export Targets.
- Coordinated Workforce & Training Pipeline: To address critical skill shortages the plan recommends establishing a WA Clean Energy Jobs Plan 2050, three regional training hubs, and dedicated pathways for female and under-represented apprentices.
- Environmental Safeguards & Community Benefits: Fast-tracked development must be paired with State Planning Policies that avoid high-biodiversity and cultural heritage lands, mandate new data centres to run on additional renewable power, and deliver household electrification rebates and First Nations equity partnerships.
What you can do
WA has an opportunity to lead on sustainable, clean energy and associated industries. You can help by:
- Sending an email to Environment Minister Murray Watt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling on them to reject Browse.
- Sharing this story to help more Australians understand what’s at stake.
- Encouraging your friends and family to take action.
Countries have completed the first “global review” of their progress towards reversing nature loss by 2030 at the COP17 biodiversity talks in Yerevan, Armenia.
The review “notes with deep concern” that, unless action is “rapidly accelerated”, the goal to reverse nature loss and meet a set of 23 targets by 2030 “will not be achieved”.
It “urges” countries to accelerate action, including by “increased ambition in addressing the gaps”.
Much of the discussions in Yerevan focused on how to raise the necessary funds to help developing countries protect nature.
Some major economies pushed to expand the range of nations that are expected to provide finance, with countries agreeing at the end of the two weeks of talks that non-donors that want to contribute can “signal interest” before COP18.
This came after developed countries failed to meet a target to significantly ramp up nature finance over the last few years.
It also came as a landmark fund agreed at COP16 in Colombia to pay communities for the genetic resources derived from nature stands nearly empty two years on.
The Yerevan talks marked the halfway point of the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), the “Paris Agreement for nature” first made in 2022 and due to be achieved by 2030.
During the nearly 12-hour-long final plenary, countries voted for Quito, Ecuador, to host the COP18 nature talks, which will be held in 2028.
Countries managed to sign off on all the major negotiation texts, marking a stark contrast to COP16, which ran so far over time that the Colombian presidency lost “quorum”, forcing talks to resume in Rome months later.
Below, Carbon Brief has detailed analysis of all of the key outcomes from COP17.
Formal negotiations
Finance
Finance, predictably, was at the heart of the discord and deadlock at the Yerevan talks.
At COP17, discussions on finance had to achieve several outcomes.
The first part – to take stock of biodiversity finance mobilised so far to meet the nature deal’s goals – fell under the global review.
As the global report noted, developed countries failed to meet their commitments to raise “at least $20bn a year by 2025” for nature. Delegates pointed to falling aid levels and a sharp 27% decline in environmental funding for the 2026-30 period.
The second part was to agree on how to mobilise resources for the next four years, to meet the GBF’s goals and targets.
Calls to “broaden the contributor base” of who pays to protect nature – and whether that should include emerging economies – became the most fraught element of the talks.
Eventually, countries agreed on what Switzerland described as a “super, mega-delicate” text. It hinged on major “political compromises”, with “no major winner or loser”, according to Kenya.
Per the decision, countries that want to be included on a list of developed country donors can “signal interest” through bilateral, confidential consultations before COP18 and every alternate COP after.
Finally, countries also agreed on criteria to shape and resource a new, permanent financial mechanism to protect nature after 2030.
However, this did not immediately take the form of a new fund under the COP that biodiverse countries have demanded since 2022, deferring the mechanism’s institutional structure to COP18.
Resource mobilisation discussions at the GBF’s halfway mark were supposed to agree on how to close the “biodiversity finance gap” and to “increase resources from all sources” to “at least” $200bn per year by 2030, as set out in target 19 of the GBF.
The talks were largely dominated by a push, led by the JUSCANZ bloc of developed countries, to “broaden the contributor base”. This could see emerging economies, such as Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia and India, being added to the list of countries that pay to protect nature.