According to a global stocktaking report released by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity ahead of the COP17 biodiversity summit in Armenia, developed countries are failing to meet financial commitments related to biodiversity protection. The report indicates that funding mechanisms established to support nature conservation are underperforming relative to agreed-upon targets.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 in 2022, established a goal to close a $700 billion annual biodiversity finance gap by 2030. This gap consists of two components: reducing nature-harming subsidies by at least $500 billion per year and mobilizing $200 billion annually through increased financial resources for biodiversity. Within the latter category, developed nations committed to providing at least $20 billion per year in public biodiversity funding to developing countries by 2025, escalating to $30 billion annually by 2030.
Data compiled between 2020 and 2023 reveal significant shortfalls. Countries collectively mobilized approximately $186.4 billion over this four-year period, averaging less than $50 billion annually. International public funding for biodiversity totaled just $17.7 billion across the same timeframe, averaging $4.4 billion yearly. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that global biodiversity finance reached $74.9 to $92.4 billion annually between 2023 and 2025, with international public finance contributing roughly $16.1 billion per year on average.
Two primary funding mechanisms are underperforming their intended roles. The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, established in 2022, has received approximately $387.2 million in signed commitments from developed countries as of June. The Cali Fund, created in 2024 to mobilize contributions from companies profiting from genetic data, has received only $6,000 in contributions to date despite the potential for generating nearly $929 million annually under realistic uptake scenarios.
Budget analysts and development advocates emphasize that insufficient finance poses particular challenges for developing nations that host significant biodiversity and bear primary responsibility for implementing nature protection targets. The financing gap is expected to remain a central negotiating point at the COP17 summit beginning on 19 October.
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