GEF launches biodiversity fund to accelerate investments, address loss

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has launched a new fund to accelerate investments in biodiversity and address nature loss. 

The initiative, global biodiversity framework fund (GBFF), was established on Thursday at the GEF Seventh Assembly in Vancouver, Canada.

GBFF is designed to accelerate investments in the conservation and sustainability of wild species and ecosystems, whose health is under threat from wildfires, flooding, and extreme weather.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and chairperson, said the new fund will “turn things around for the health of the planet and its people”.

“This is a hugely positive moment that will be remembered far into the future,” he said.

“We have shown at the Seventh GEF Assembly that even in difficult conditions — with wildfire smoke as our backdrop — we can move forward to build a more biodiverse planet for everyone’s benefit.”

Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s minister of international development, said the effects of nature loss are at its highest in developing countries, adding that the country is committed to ensuring the protection of biodiversity.

“Biodiversity is the critical foundation of our well-being and the health of our planet. The new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund will play a key role in addressing biodiversity loss,” he said.

“It will address it in developing countries, where the impacts of nature loss are highest; it will address it in a gender-responsive manner, including through cross-sectoral partnerships, it will address it in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the lands and seas.

“Canada is making a significant contribution to this new fund and continuing to show our support for the GEF’s eighth replenishment to ensure the protection of our planet’s biodiversity for generations to come.”

Also speaking, Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, said the establishment of the new fund is a global response to sustainable biodiversity and ecosystems.

“We are at a pivotal time of unprecedented environmental challenges as the world is being confronted by the triple crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss,” he said.

“The urgency of a global response has never been greater. Over the last eight months, since COP15, we have seen outstanding collaboration between countries and international partners, and we need to keep the momentum going.

“Canada’s longstanding partnership with the GEF is central to our efforts and underscores our shared commitment to collaboration and climate action.

“The new fund will mobilise and disburse new and additional resources from public, private, and philanthropic sources, with a focus on the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystems.”

At the assembly, two countries — Canada and the United Kingdom — announced initial contributions to commence the capitalisation of the new fund.

This included 200 million Canadian dollars and 10 million pounds from the United Kingdom.