World leaders celebrated the launch of a new fund last week that is meant to collect money from corporations that use genetic data from animals and plants in their products and then disseminate those funds to biodiverse countries.
The idea is a good one, experts say: Ask companies that benefit from biodiversity to pay for it — thereby sharing their profits with countries trying to conserve biodiversity.
But challenges to getting companies to pay up are already coming to light. This fund — named the “Cali Fund” for the city in Colombia where it was conceived at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP16, last year — is voluntary for companies. Industry experts suggest it could see little support over the coming months due to a “lack of clarity” and potential bureaucracy.