COP17 agrees criteria for biodiversity financing institution — Mongabay

At the UN biodiversity conference COP17 in Yerevan, the parties agreed on criteria for selecting an institution capable of hosting the financial mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Democratic Republic of the Congo insists on creating a separate mechanism independent of the Global Environment Facility, Mongabay reports.

Position of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Daniel Mukubi, head of the climate change unit at the DRC’s environment ministry, said that the current system for accessing funds is too complex for developing countries, as well as for Indigenous peoples and local communities. According to him, one of the country’s projects was approved quickly, but the DRC had not gained access to its funds even more than a year later.

Mukubi noted that Article 21 of the Convention on Biological Diversity provides for a financial mechanism under the control and guidance of the Conference of the Parties. At the same time, Article 39 designates the Global Environment Facility as an interim mechanism. The DRC representative believes that the fund’s procedures are cumbersome and access to financing is complicated.

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Unmet financial targets

At COP15 in Montreal, countries agreed that developed states should provide developing countries with at least $20 billion annually by 2025 and $30 billion per year in 2026–2030. These commitments are part of a broader goal of providing $200 billion annually to finance nature conservation worldwide.

In Mukubi’s assessment, the interim $20 billion target was likely not met. He cited available reports according to which spending directly on biodiversity amounted to about $18.9 billion. He also said that of the 25 developed countries expected to contribute to the ninth replenishment cycle of the Global Environment Facility, only 12 had made contributions.

The DRC has more than 155 million hectares of forests and has committed to conserving 30% of the country’s territory and restoring 30% of degraded land and ecosystems by 2030. Mukubi stressed that additional resources are needed to meet these goals, including to support sustainable income sources for local communities dependent on forests.