COP16: Nigeria, Global South countries makes case for international nature finance support

The 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),which recently ended in Cali, Colombia was aimed at providing equity and addressing socio-economic aspects of our ecological crisis. The UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen during the opening, said the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is the boldest plan to make peace […]

The 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),which recently ended in Cali, Colombia was aimed at providing equity and addressing socio-economic aspects of our ecological crisis.

The UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen during the opening, said the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is the boldest plan to make peace with nature.

“A plan that, as we implement and interweave it with the Climate Convention, the Desertification Convention, and the Pollution conventions, can truly address that which we refer to as the triple planetary crisis, the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature, biodiversity and land loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste,” she said.

Andersen explained that the GBF’s sweeping vision is reflected in 23 clear targets; many of which are quantifiable and measurable, adding that 115 parties have submitted over 2,645 national targets.

“And we need to support countries to ensure that these plans are ambitious, achievable, and approved at a high political level to secure a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” she said.

“Of course, strong funding will be essential for implementation at national and regional level. The GBF calls for a significant step up in both public and private funding alongside a dramatic dialing down of harmful incentives and subsidies. The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund is already supporting investments, but it remains under-capitalised. We need urgent contributions from public resources. And we need to see a dramatic increase in private and innovative sources,” she said.

She further said: “Justice, equity and inclusion will be foundational to the GBF’s success. So, it is long past time for the leadership and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples to take front and centre. In the same vein, COP16 must operationalize the mechanism and fund for fair and equitable benefit-sharing from Digital Sequencing Information of genetic resources. That is how the GBF can ensure that those who profit from biodiversity give back to nature, to countries and to communities that steward our natural heritage.

However, the global meeting has continued to leave much to be desired by developing countries who contribute so little to the climate crisis but are at the receiving end of the impact.

The COP has agreed that a certain amount should be used to finance the Global Biodiversity Framework but there seem to be severe shortfalls in the funding of environmental protection, including biodiversity and others.

The Nigeria Minister of State for Environment who chaired the Ministerial Alliance For Ambition on Nature Finance (MAANF) at the margin of COP 16, Dr. Iziaq Salako said finance is the most important issue in implementing biodiversity framework.

He said: “Target 19 (a) of the Global Biodiversity Framework provides that least $20 billion in international biodiversity finance will be directed annually to developing countries by 2025, and $30 billion by 2030. This commitment is the result of extensive negotiations and must be kept in full by the agreed deadline or we will fail in our efforts to achieve the goals we have set in the GBF.”

Dr. Salako said since COP15, they have not seen a significant increase in international nature finance supporting projects in Nigeria and global South countries.

“While Nigeria government is committed to increasing biodiversity finance, to truly activate more national finance and improve our ability to help achieve our ambitious goals for restoring and conserving the natural world, this cannot replace or supersede the funds pledged through the adoption of target 19 (a), “ he said.

“We are releasing a Ministerial Declaration endorsed by 20 countries from the Global South to call on developed countries to urgently increase their international finance commitments and to develop a roadmap and accountability mechanisms to ensure that the $20 billion commitment to developing countries will be delivered on time.”

While noting that it is a call to action and an offer to work together to increase accountability and transparency, he said “Let us be united on the road to ambition – let us work hand in hand to ensure we reach our common goal of fully implementing the Kunming Montreal Biodiversity Framework.”

Salako said during the COP15 negotiations, the $20 billion target was generally understood as a doubling of the existing level of funding, saying, “We have learned since then that the level of international nature finance at the time of the COP15 negotiations was actually $15.4 billion. This means that delivering $20 billion is not a doubling of the baseline, it is only a 30per cent increase, which is very modest. We therefore invite our partners in the Global North to go beyond the bare minimum and to endeavor to go far above the $20 billion by 2025 pledge.”