The text of the following statement was released by Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the Province of Québec for their announcement of new contributions, and by Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, and Spain for their confirmation of early support provided.
Today in Cali, Colombia, we announce additional contributions totaling $163 million (USD)[1] from seven countries and the first ever contribution by a sub-national government to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Additional donors that have made recent contributions express strong continued political support to the GBFF.
The GBFF was established in 2023 in response to decisions taken at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The fund establishment was ratified at the Seventh GEF Assembly in Vancouver, Canada in August 2023, with announcements of initial contributions. The GBFF aims to help scale up financing for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
We applaud the speed with which the GBFF has moved from its establishment to full operations, with 22 concepts totaling 110 million USD from 24 countries, including six least developed countries and seven small island developing States, already approved and more on the way.
We are pleased that today’s announcement includes contribution from the Province of Québec, marking the first sub-national contribution to the GBFF which has been set up to receive contributions from all sources.
We join forces today to make the following announcements totaling 163 million USD, to help developing countries advance in the KMGBF implementation and further expand GBFF’s impact:
- Austria is contributing 3.0 million euros (approximately 3.2 million USD) to the GBFF, pending final internal approval.
- Denmark is contributing 100.0 million Danish kroner (approximately 14.5 million USD) to the GBFF in 2024.
- France is announcing its contribution of 5.0 million euros (approximately 5.4 million USD) to the GBFF in 2024.
- Germany will contribute an additional 50.0 million euros (equivalent to approximately 54.1 million USD) to the GBFF in 2024, complementary to its 40.0 million euros earlier contribution from 2023.
- New Zealand provided NZ$20.0 million to the GBFF, in June 2024 (equivalent to approximately 12.0 million USD).
- Norway will contribute 150.0 million Norwegian kroner (equivalent to approximately 13.7 million USD), subject to Parliamentary approval.
- The United Kingdom is contributing £45 million (equivalent to approximately 58.4 million USD) to the GBFF, in addition to its initial contribution of £10 million pledged in 2023.
- Government of Québec announced 2 million Canadian dollars (equivalent to 1.4 million USD) of new support to the GBFF.
We, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, and Spain, also express continued political support to the GBFF, as our early contributions to the GBFF—together with Germany and the United Kingdom—have enabled resources to be made available for the start of programming.
Together, we recognize support is essential to support developing countries make swift progress towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its 2030 mission, underscoring the important role of the GBFF as a key component of international biodiversity finance.
About the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) was established by the GEF at the request of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15 to support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Launched at the Seventh GEF Assembly in 2023, the fund aims to help countries strengthen national-level biodiversity management, policy, governance, and resource mobilization, including blended finance to leverage private sector financing. The GBFF can receive contributions from public, private, and philanthropic sources. It has streamlined procedures to provide efficient and impactful support for developing countries towards biodiversity goals, with a target of having 20 percent of its funding to support biodiversity action led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
About the Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and supporting land and ocean health. Its financing enables developing countries to address complex challenges and work towards international environmental goals. The partnership includes 186 member governments as well as civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, with a focus on integration and inclusivity. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $25 billion in financing and mobilized $145 billion for country-driven priority projects. The family of funds includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF), and Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency Trust Fund (CBIT).
[1] All conversions to USD are based on exchange rates as of October 25, 2024.
