The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has announced the launch of a new fund that is expected to accelerate investments in biodiversity as well as address nature loss.
The initiative, global biodiversity framework fund (GBFF), was established on Thursday at the GEF Seventh Assembly in Vancouver, Canada where at least two countries — Canada and the United Kingdom — announced initial contributions to commence the capitalisation of the new fund, including 200 million Canadian dollars and 10 million pounds from the United Kingdom.
Among other things, GBFF is designed to accelerate investments in the conservation and sustainability of wild species and ecosystems, whose health is under threat from wildfires, flooding, and extreme weather.
Speaking during the event, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and chairperson, said that the new fund will “turn things around for the health of the planet and its people”.
“This is a hugely positive moment that will be remembered far into the future,” he said. “We have shown at the Seventh GEF Assembly that even in difficult conditions — with wildfire smoke as our backdrop — we can move forward to build a more biodiverse planet for everyone’s benefit.”
Also speaking, Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s minister of international development, said that the effects of nature loss are at its highest in developing countries, adding that the country is committed to ensuring the protection of biodiversity.
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“Biodiversity is the critical foundation of our well-being and the health of our planet. The new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund will play a key role in addressing biodiversity loss,” he said. “It will address it in developing countries, where the impacts of nature loss are highest; it will address it in a gender-responsive manner, including through cross-sectoral partnerships, it will address it in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the lands and seas,”.
“Speaking further, he said that Canada is making a significant contribution to this new fund and continuing to show our support for the GEF’s eighth replenishment to ensure the protection of our planet’s biodiversity for generations to come.
Story was adapted from TheCable.
