Egypt at COP15: Establishing global biodiversity fund urgent necessity

CAIRO – 17 December 2022: Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad has called for establishing a new global biodiversity fund as an urgent necessity.

She made the remarks during her participation at the high-level segment of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, on Saturday.

In her speech, Fouad affirmed that reinforcing ambitions within the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) requires the presence of a global fund that allows access to funding and sharing benefits, a statement by the ministry said.

She added that the new fund would support the ambitions sought within the framework of the biodiversity action.

The biodiversity fund should provide independent and equal funding and should have a governing structure, Fouad said.

She added that the fund should also allow developed and developing countries the opportunity to be part of the decision.

Fouad affirmed that establishing a fund capable of providing the required support has become an urgent necessity although its is a long-term process.

The biodiversity fund also needs to be independent and to submit its reports to biodiversity conferences, Fouad said.

Also, the fund’s governing framework needs to include a large participation of developing countries, which are the most affected by the loss and degradation of biological diversity, Fouad said.

In parallel to its establishment as a transitional fund until 2025, negotiations will continue to reach an integrated fund that fulfills pledges and works to reduce the funding gap for biodiversity, she added.

On Friday, Fouad hailed COP15 chaired by China as a turning point in the joint efforts to reach applicable goals within the GBF.

The GBF, an initiative led by the UN, aims at addressing the root causes of biodiversity loss.

COP15 is an important turning point in the course of the joint efforts of various parties and stakeholders, including women, youth and financial institutions, to ensure reaching agreed goals that can be implemented within the GBF, Fouad said.

She added that such goals can be applied in different region while taking into consideration the transboundary nature of biodiversity and ecosystems, the needs required to implement national commitments, and the fulfillment of the pledges made at COP14 held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2018.

This would help reach a global framework for biodiversity that preserves natural resources and sustains the quality of life, Fouad added.