Financing and accelerating nature positive actions post-COP16 and COP29

The CBD COP16 recently concluded in Cali, Colombia was labeled as “implementation COP”, whereas UNFCCC COP29 recently finished in Baku, Azerbaijan was named “finance COP”. Among many expectations, both aimed to  raise environmental finance critical to funding climate and nature actions. Despite certain progress of both COPs, they fell short in delivering at the scale needed to halt and reverse the nature and climate crisis. 

COP16 emphasized mobilizing financing, monitoring progress, and addressing access and benefit sharing, with a particular focus on channeling funds to Indigenous Peoples as the key topics. There were some clear wins with the establishment of the Cali Fund for genetic resources that imply that companies benefitting from genetic information now expected to pay for the use of genetic data. Moreover, 50% of benefits contributed to the Cali Fund are expected to go to the Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples manage or have tenure over at least 28% of the Earth’s lands that are still free from industrial-level human impacts and rich in biodiversity and therefore crucial to be preserved. However, the overall outcomes of the CBD COP16 highlight the slow progress in implementing the The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM GBF), especially its ambitious financial goals, underscoring the importance of alternative resource mobilization and actions.

When it comes to the COP29 outcomes, financing ambitions were at the center stage. Despite a positive outcome of setting a new climate finance goal of $300 billion annually by 2035, this amount falls short of the $700 billion needed yearly to restore nature, as estimated by experts. Moreover, the agreement to mobilize funds includes a significant contribution from private sectors, highlighting the gap between public pledges and the actual financial needs for sustaining global biodiversity. Only a fraction of climate funding is currently dedicated to the nature based climate solutions and nature is yet to be firmly integrated among climate financing ambitions.  

Despite the set goals and the emerging frameworks, significant challenges remain. For instance, there's no global consensus on the definition and regulation of biodiversity credits. Plus, the emphasis on nature and climate funding through loans rather than grants has raised concerns about increasing the debt burden on already vulnerable nations.

When it comes to the role of the private sector, its involvement is now more crucial than ever. Private funding is needed not only to fill the significant financial gap left by public funding but also to help bring innovation and scale nature-based solutions. Nature provides essential assets that support quality inputs for business activities, fuel innovation, and ensure stable operations and value chains.

As we move forward, the dialogue between governments, private investors, and community leaders must intensify to translate financial commitments into actionable strategies that genuinely preserve and enhance the world’s natural assets. The time to act is now. Milkywire, together with our partners aims to accelerate actions towards global climate and biodiversity goals, helping with clear strategic guidance and manageable steps to efficiently contribute and take a lead on nature and climate actions.