Newly launched Global Biodiversity Framework Fund will support sustainable use of natural resources. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund during the Seventh Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Assembly in Vancouver, Canada.
Commitment to implement win-win solutions for people and the planet
The newly established fund will facilitate financing for developing countries — which are often the most biodiverse — to enhance their ability to protect, restore and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources, as established through The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at COP15 in December 2022.
“The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework places agrifood systems at the forefront of an enormous challenge that will require important financial resources, coordination, and commitment to implement win-win solutions for people and the planet. The new Fund is also an essential part of climate action, and a critical step towards making these solutions a reality,’’ said FAO Deputy Director-General, Maria Helena Semedo.
Biodiversity and agrifood systems
Biodiversity is the variety of life at genetic, species and ecosystem levels. It is essential for food and agriculture and indispensable to food security and sustainable development. It includes the domesticated plants and animals that are part of crop, livestock, forest or aquaculture systems, harvested forest and aquatic species, the wild relatives of domesticated species, and other wild species harvested for food and other products.
Over half of the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework are directly related to agrifood sectors, and FAO is the custodian of four of the Framework’s headline indicators: ecosystem restoration, fish stocks, areas under productive and sustainable agriculture, and sustainable forest management.
The transformation of agrifood systems to make them more sustainable can unlock solutions that generate multiple benefits, including safeguarding biodiversity, which can help address the challenges posed by diverse and changing environmental conditions and socio-economic circumstances.
