Mobilizing more no excuse for giving less to biodiversity

As delegates gather in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, for the biennial United Nations Biodiversity Conference, known as COP17, finance has again become one of the most contentious issues. Some developed countries are pressing large emerging economies, including China, to increase their contributions to international biodiversity funding.

Voluntary support from developing countries should not be used as a pretext to dilute the financial obligations already agreed upon by developed countries. This distinction is essential for maintaining fairness and the credibility of multilateral cooperation.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 under China's presidency of COP15, set 23 targets for 2030. Target 19 called for mobilizing at least $200 billion a year for biodiversity from all sources by 2030. Within that broader goal, it specifically called for biodiversity-related international financial resources from developed countries, and from countries that voluntarily assume those obligations, to provide at least $20 billion a year by 2025 and $30 billion by 2030.

The wording reflected a carefully negotiated balance. Developed countries had a special responsibility to provide international finance to developing countries. Many of these countries house much of the world's biodiversity but face severe fiscal and technological constraints.

Therefore, the primary focus at COP17 should be closing the financing gap rather than revisiting the issue of responsibility. Estimates suggest that funding from developed to developing countries for biodiversity reached $18.9 billion in 2024 while biodiversity spending in 2023-25 remained well below the framework's $200 billion target.

Broadening participation can indeed help mobilize additional money. But these contributions must be truly additional. If voluntary contributions by emerging economies lead developed countries to reduce their efforts, it would not amount to burden-sharing but a redistribution of agreed obligations.

The experience with climate finance serves as a warning. In 2009, developed countries promised to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020, but the goal was not reached until 2022, two years behind schedule. Not to mention that much of the financial support from wealthy nations has been in the form of loans rather than the grants that developing nations need.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2024 set a new goal of at least $300 billion annually by 2035, with developed countries taking the lead. The prolonged delay in meeting earlier pledges damaged trust and complicated future negotiations.

Biodiversity governance cannot afford to repeat that pattern. The Kunming-Montreal framework relies on developing countries to prepare national strategies, restore ecosystems, expand protected areas, improve monitoring and integrate biodiversity into economic decisions. These tasks require stable, predictable and accessible finance, along with technology transfer and capacity-building. Uncertain pledges and shifting expectations hinder long-term implementation.

China's role should also be assessed accurately. The Convention on Biological Diversity does not identify it as a party having the financial obligations of a developed country. Nevertheless, it committed 1.5 billion yuan ($224.85 million) to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund and has supported other developing countries through South-South cooperation, capacity-building and green development programs.

China and other capable developing countries can make important contributions. But those contributions should expand the pool of resources, not replace flows that developed countries had already pledged to provide. Supplementing agreed obligations strengthens financing; substituting for them weakens it.

It is about preserving the negotiated biodiversity framework agreement. Developing countries accepted ambitious conservation targets with the understanding that implementation would be backed by adequate support. Changing that understanding after the agreement would undermine confidence not only in biodiversity negotiations, but also in multilateral environmental governance.

COP17 is therefore a test of whether parties can turn ambition into implementation. Developed countries should accelerate delivery of finance, technology and capacity-building support. Emerging economies should continue contributing according to their capabilities and through voluntary cooperation. Multilateral institutions should also make funding easier to access and enhance transparency regarding what has been pledged, delivered and utilized.

The world needs more biodiversity finance from every feasible source. The fair and practical way forward is clear: honor previous obligations, encourage additional voluntary contributions and ensure that every new commitment strengthens the effort.