Less than a year after 190 countries reached a Paris Agreement-style accord on how to protect the world’s natural habitats, a new fund was launched to finance the developing world’s biodiversity needs, with Canada and the United Kingdom providing the first pledges, though falling short of the minimum amount to make the fund operational.
Member countries ratified the creation of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund at the seventh Global Environment Facility, or GEF, Assembly in Vancouver on Thursday as wildfires raged in British Columbia and smoke blanketed the city, underscoring ongoing threats from climate change to the natural world.
Canada also hosted the COP 15 talks in December that produced the 23-target agreement known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls on signatories to conserve 30% of their lands and waters by 2030. Meeting those targets will require environmental development financing, and Canada led the charge with a pledge of CA$200 million (US$147 million). The U.K. gave £10 million ($12.6 million) as a “down payment,” while Japan signaled a money was forthcoming.