Canada’s international biodiversity financing

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on earth, from micro-organisms to plants, animals and human life. Various ecosystems provide humans with clean water, air, fertile soil, food, medicine and climate control. However, this life-supporting safety net is under immense stress. Millions of species are at risk of extinction, and the intensive extraction of certain components of biodiversity has come at the expense of everything else. With climate change both contributing to and being exacerbated by biodiversity loss, Canada recognizes that biodiversity loss poses a fundamental threat to the planet, people and global economy.

The greatest impacts of biodiversity loss are being felt in developing countries, where most of the world’s biodiversity is found. If unchecked, biodiversity loss will damage decades of hard-won poverty reduction gains. Significant impacts to food insecurity can be expected as biodiversity loss undermines the capacity of agricultural systems to adapt to changing climate conditions and other shocks, such as outbreaks of pests and diseases.

Gender inequalities and development gaps amplify the effects for women, especially for those who depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. Biodiversity loss worsens existing social inequalities, putting the rights of women and girls at stake. It also puts the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the land, at stake.

Our global efforts to reduce the effects of biodiversity loss

International Climate Finance

At the G7 Leaders’ Summit in June 2021, Canada announced that at least 20% of our $5.3-billion international climate finance commitment would be allocated to projects that leverage nature-based solutions and contribute biodiversity co-benefits. Canada recognizes that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is also crucial to mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, this international climate finance commitment focuses on climate change, which is only one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss.

Support to the Global Environment Facility

Canada is also contributing $241.8 million to the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-8), the official financial mechanism of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. With its new financial cycle, the GEF-8 envelope has exceeded US$5.33 billion and includes approximately US$1.89 billion dedicated to biodiversity action. In addition, the ambition is to have 60% of all Global Environment Facility (GEF) financing deliver biodiversity benefits.

International Biodiversity Program

In December 2022, the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference in Montréal was marked by the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This ambitious agreement outlines a global agenda to help transform humanity’s relationship with nature by 2030 and fulfill the shared vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050. This will be done in part by conserving 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030 while ensuring that at least 30% of its degraded ecosystems are under restoration. The agreement calls for US$20 billion per year by 2025 and US$30 billion per year by 2030 to flow from developed to developing countries. A wider goal is to mobilize at least US$200 billion per year in domestic and international biodiversity funding from all sources by 2030.

The framework addresses the 5 direct drivers of global biodiversity loss: land- and sea-use change, the overexploitation of species, invasive alien species, pollution, and climate change. It also addresses many indirect drivers of biodiversity loss such as unsustainable production and consumption, and subsidies that are harmful to biodiversity. The 23 targets under the framework are categorized into the following 3 thematic areas:

reducing threats to and enhancing biodiversity
meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing
providing tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming

Parties requested that a new fund be established at the GEF as a result of a negotiated compromise to support the restoration and conservation of biodiversity in developing countries. Canada committed to this stated goal and announced it would provide $350 million to support developing countries to implement the framework. This funding constitutes Canada’s first dedicated funding to international biodiversity.

1. Guiding principles

The International Biodiversity Program falls under the environment and climate action area of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. Halting and reversing biodiversity loss requires real collaboration and partnership, including with women and Indigenous Peoples.

The program focuses on halting and reversing biodiversity loss by addressing its direct drivers beyond climate change—namely, land- and sea-use change, the overexploitation of species, invasive alien species, and pollution, as well as agriculture.

All programming under the commitment is guided by 3 principles:

supporting the poorest and most vulnerable by adopting an inclusive, feminist approach to delivering biodiversity initiatives
positioning Canada as a leader in conserving, restoring and sustainably using nature
mobilizing philanthropic and private sector finance to contribute to international biodiversity goals

Through this program, Canada partners with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, NGOs and bilateral and multilateral entities.

2. Subprograms

The International Biodiversity Program is composed of the following subprograms.

The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
On August 24, 2023, Canada announced at the 7th Global Environment Facility Assembly in Vancouver that $200 million of its $350 million International Biodiversity Program would be provided to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. With this, Canada became the fund’s first donor. Managed by the GEF, the fund has 3 critical innovations. It is set to:
- devote as much as 20% of programming toward Indigenous-led initiatives to protect and conserve biodiversity
- deliver 25% of funding through international financial institutions as a means to leverage more resources through the private sector
- prioritize support for the most vulnerable—small island developing states and least developed countries—which will receive 36% of the resources plus an additional 3% if they have the capacity to take it up

Partnering for Nature
It is set to:
- facilitate targeted solutions that meet local, regional or global biodiversity-related needs where promoting the health of biodiversity and key ecosystems is the principal objective
- deliver every initiative in a fashion that allows for gender equality to be at least partially integrated while 15% of funds is allocated to projects where gender equality is specifically targeted
- ensure policy coherence with Canada's international biodiversity finance priorities and the thematic areas of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

3. Expected results

To ensure that quality data is collected and shared, Canada’s International Biodiversity Program will remain grounded in quality evidence that reflects the evolving nature of biodiversity science, policy development and the international biodiversity finance landscape. The program aims to:

support developing countries to improve the health of biodiversity and key ecosystems on which people depend, especially the poorest and most vulnerable
enhance the conservation and restoration of terrestrial, inland water and coastal and marine ecosystems, including threatened species and the management of invasive alien species
increase the sustainability of the use of biodiversity in a gender-responsive way and enhance policy making, planning, implementation, mainstreaming and monitoring in alignment with the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
enhance the capacity, awareness and access of diverse stakeholders—in particular, local women and girls and Indigenous Peoples—to develop and implement biodiversity solutions, including laws, policies, public services, programs, technologies, data and funding

Text version

Ultimate outcome: Improved health of biodiversity and key ecosystems on which people depend, especially the poorest and most vulnerable

Policy objectives / impact goals

Reducing threats to and enhancing biodiversity
Programming areas:
- conservation areas protection
- degraded areas restoration
- threatened species protection
- pollution reduction (e.g., excess nutrients, chemicals, plastics)
- invasive species impact reduction
Meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing
Programming areas:
- wild species management that enhances biodiversity and protects customary sustainable use
- sustainable use of land and sea for the benefit of people and biodiversity
- nexus of biodiversity and food security
- urban green and blue spaces
Providing tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming
Programming areas:
- development and updating of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans
- policy, legal, administrative or regulatory framework development for sustainable production/consumption
- financial and non-financial incentives for biodiversity conservation
- technology transfer

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