COP16 is unlikely to reach an agreement on conservation funding

Countries are unlikely to reach a major new agreement on conservation funding at this week's COP16 UN biodiversity summit, reports Reuters. According to the world news agency, the delegates are discussing an option to continue the negotiations after the end of the meeting.

The funding debate follows a pledge made by rich countries two years ago to provide $20 billion in annual conservation funding for developing nations by 2025. That amount is to increase to $30 billion a year by 2030.

Those amounts represent a modest increase from the $15,4 billion that was committed to funding conservation in 2022, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Countries at COP15 in 2022 agreed to create a Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to help catalyze financing to achieve conservation goals, but the fund has so far raised only about $400 million.

This year's summit aimed to increase sources of conservation funding, but deadlocked on whether to create another nature fund.

"It is clear that discussions here will not solve the problem. Delegates have already discussed how they will continue to act going forward,” said spokesman David Ainsworth of the secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which is organizing the talks.

Failure to reach a new funding deal is likely to slow efforts to pay for conservation amid nature's rapid decline from habitat destruction, pollution and climate change.

Does it need a new fund?

Brazil and other developing countries have said they want greater oversight of nature funding, saying the existing Framework Fund is dominated by rich nations. They also said they were worried the money would be paid out too slowly.

“Biodiversity financing must work where the biodiversity is. The voice of these countries should matter more," said Brazil's chief negotiator Andre Correa do Lago, calling for the creation of the new fund.

Rich nations opposed this idea.

"It is not enough to always discuss a new fund. We already have a Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, so I don't think we should be distracted and say, 'Now we need a different fund,'" says Florika Fink-Heuer, head of the European Union's Environment Directorate-General .

Countries are now evaluating options for continuing discussions after COP16, including whether to establish a new negotiating group on the issues or hold discussions through an existing UN body.

“I don't know if we would call it a failure. But it would be disappointing not to have a clear agreement from this COP," said Marcos Neto, global policy director for the United Nations Development Programme.

He says countries are reshaping the way they approach environmental financing to bring together public, private and multilateral sources, and that takes time.

“I really think it's an innovation. Sometimes it takes us longer to figure out how to put all these pieces together," Neto added.

Countries will need to understand how a new fund will fit into existing ones, and how it will be used not only to channel public funds, but also to stimulate private investment in activities that benefit nature.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he remains hopeful of a strong agreement at COP16.

“There was a huge will to find a successful outcome and a huge will to compromise on the outstanding issues. So I am quite optimistic that it will be possible to reach a consensus," Guterres said.