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Govts pledge $60m to Global Biodiversity Fund at COP17 – EnviroNews
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National and sub-national governments have pledged $60 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) to support biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and the implementation of global biodiversity targets.
The pledges were announced during Finance Day at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, as governments intensified efforts to mobilise resources for nature conservation.
The funding is expected to provide targeted support to countries and communities working to protect wild species, restore degraded ecosystems and ensure the long-term sustainability of biodiversity.
The announcements also included new commitments to the ninth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF-9), with Spain pledging €50 million and Uzbekistan contributing $4.5 million. The United Kingdom reaffirmed its £330 million commitment, bringing total pledges to GEF-9 close to $4.4 billion.
Representatives of Armenia, which holds the COP17 presidency, joined officials from Germany, Iceland, Monaco, the Canadian province of Québec and the German capital, Berlin, in announcing new contributions to biodiversity financing.
The pledging session brought together representatives of developing countries receiving support from the funds, Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), implementing agencies, philanthropic organisations and the private sector.
Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Diego Mesa Puyo, said the commitments demonstrated a growing willingness among international partners to translate biodiversity ambitions into practical action.
“Today’s pledges send a powerful signal: our partnership is ready to move from ambition to action for nature,” Mesa Puyo said.
He added that the contributions would help integrate environmental protection with development priorities, attract additional public and private investment, and accelerate the delivery of conservation outcomes.
Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Astrid Schomaker, described the GBFF as an important financing mechanism for translating the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) into action.
She said the latest commitments, including multi-year pledges and the fund’s first contribution from a city, demonstrated growing support for biodiversity financing.
“These new pledges, including multiannual commitments and the fund’s first contribution from a city, are encouraging signs of growing support for biodiversity finance,” Schomaker said, stressing that every contribution would help advance global conservation efforts.
Armenia’s Minister of Environment and COP17 President, Hambardzum Matevosyan, also welcomed the commitments, describing them as evidence of what multilateral cooperation could achieve.
He said Armenia had begun preliminary internal discussions on a possible contribution to the funding efforts, with the aim of translating international commitments into practical implementation.
GBFF mobilises $446 million since launch
Established in August 2023 at the request of parties to the CBD, the GBFF was designed to accelerate implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which sets international targets for halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
Since its launch, the fund has received $446 million in commitments from 14 sovereign governments and two sub-national governments.
Within three years, it has programmed $362.1 million for 82 projects across 87 countries, including 47 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
The fund supports countries in strengthening biodiversity management, environmental policies, governance systems and domestic resource mobilisation. It also promotes blended financing arrangements intended to attract private-sector investment into conservation and restoration initiatives.
According to the statement, the GBFF has exceeded three of its portfolio targets, allocating 32 per cent of its resources to support actions by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, 39 per cent to Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, and 30 per cent through international financial institutions.
The fund operates with streamlined procedures and expanded governance arrangements intended to improve access to financing for developing countries.
It can receive contributions from governments, private-sector organisations, philanthropic institutions and other sources.
Germany pledges additional €50 million
Germany announced plans to contribute another €50 million to the GBFF before the end of 2026, reinforcing its support for international biodiversity conservation.
Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Carsten Schneider, said the fund had demonstrated its effectiveness through simplified procedures, relatively low administrative costs and targets designed to benefit vulnerable countries.
He also highlighted the fund’s support for scientific participation and the involvement of Indigenous Peoples in biodiversity decision-making.
Schneider called on other countries, private businesses, non-profit organisations and institutions to contribute to efforts to implement the global biodiversity framework.
Iceland’s Head of Delegation to COP17, Freydís Vigfúsdóttir, said the country supported the principle of burden-sharing and recognised the GBFF’s role in helping developing countries achieve biodiversity targets.
Monaco’s Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, Céline Caron-Dagioni, said her country’s contribution reflected its determination to support vulnerable nations whose livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems.
She stressed that international financial commitments must lead to concrete and sustainable conservation outcomes on the ground.
Berlin also announced a contribution to the GBFF, becoming the first city to contribute to the fund.
Sandra Naumann, Chief Biodiversity Officer at the Berlin Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and Environment, said the contribution extended the city’s nature conservation efforts beyond its borders.
She encouraged other cities and regions to support international biodiversity financing.
Spain, Uzbekistan boost GEF-9 financing
Alongside the GBFF pledges, Spain and Uzbekistan announced new contributions to GEF-9, which covers the period from July 2026 to June 2030.
Spain’s €50 million pledge represents a 60 per cent increase over its contribution to the previous replenishment cycle, according to Maria J. Rodriguez de Sancho, the country’s Director-General for Biodiversity, Forest and Desertification.
She said the commitment reaffirmed Spain’s support for multilateral action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
Uzbekistan’s $4.5 million contribution marks the country’s entry into the group of donor countries to the Global Environment Facility.
Aziz Abdukhakimov, Advisor to the President on Environmental Issues and Chairman of Uzbekistan’s National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, said the country looked forward to strengthening its partnership with the GEF to protect nature and generate benefits for communities.
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, reaffirmed its £330 million pledge to GEF-9, helping bring total commitments close to $4.4 billion.
Seventy per cent of the GEF-9 resources are expected to contribute to objectives under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
During the previous GEF-8 replenishment period, which ran from July 2022 to June 2026, the GEF approved $4.64 billion in funding for 649 projects supporting implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework across 144 countries.
The latest pledges at COP17 underscore the growing recognition that achieving global biodiversity targets requires sustained financing, stronger international cooperation and greater participation by governments, local communities, cities and private-sector institutions.
However, the effectiveness of these commitments will ultimately depend on how quickly the resources are mobilised and translated into measurable conservation, restoration and biodiversity protection outcomes.
