The resumed meeting of the parties to the COP16 Global Biodiversity Conference ended in Rome on Thursday with an agreement on outstanding issues and strong support for the swift implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

The event secured a global roadmap to support financing for biodiversity beyond 2030 and to close the biodiversity financing gap. Agreement was also reached on the monitoring framework and the procedures for the global review of implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework at the next COP17 Global Biodiversity Conference.

The newly established Cali Fund was also launched with companies benefiting from digital sequence information on genetic resources that can be shared with biodiverse countries of origin, with half of the fund allocated to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

An Lambrechts, Head of Greenpeace COP16 delegation said: “This is a helpful move in maintaining trust that the nature finance gap can be closed but it’s only one side of the coin, and we urgently need to see the other side too: money on the table. That means rapid delivery of $20 billion per year of public funding as of this year and Cali Fund contributions from big pharma and big ag that amount to at least 1 per cent of their revenues. The processes reached here in Rome will also need to eliminate subsidies that harm nature and lead to new, transparent, equitable and just ways to generate finance.”

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