Governments, philanthropists and businesses announced nearly $2 billion in new funding at the biodiversity conference in Yerevan, including a $500 million Dutch pledge to support tropical forest protection. Conservation groups welcomed the commitments but said they remain far below the financing needed to meet the goals agreed in 2022, while war, rising energy prices and declining international support continue to threaten protected areas.
New funding falls short of biodiversity commitments
Katherine Weller, global policy director at campaign group Fauna & Flora, welcomed the Yerevan deal but said its funding was well below the commitments that formed a key part of the 2022 agreement.
“In a world of trillionaires, we can certainly afford to spend $200 billion a year protecting and restoring the very nature that keeps us all alive,” she said.
Conference organizers said governments, philanthropists and businesses had announced nearly $2 billion in new funding for the Armenian gathering.
Netherlands pledges $500 million to forest initiative
The new funding included a commitment from the Netherlands to contribute $500 million to the Tropical Forest Perpetual Facility, a Brazilian initiative that pays countries to maintain their forests.
The pledge was announced in the Dutch parliament one day after Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was re-elected as president, a result that brought relief to many people attending the biodiversity summit.
After the conference ended, Karina Pimenta, Brazil’s National Secretary for Bioeconomy, highlighted Lula’s achievements in protecting the Amazon rainforest and expressed hope for further progress.
“At a time of heightened global uncertainty, the Yerevan Declaration sends a powerful message: World leaders recognize that protecting biodiversity is essential to food security, livelihoods and economic resilience,” she said.
Countries develop national plans amid funding decline
The increasing number of countries developing national diversity plans, along with new pledges to the Brazil Fund, provided “reasons for cautious optimism,” said Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature.
However, disruption caused by war and soaring energy prices has contributed to a decline in international funding for protected areas in many countries. Environmental funding is expected to fall by 27 percent over the 2026–30 period.
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Source: arstechnica.com