Egypt wants to see a biodiversity fund: Egypt’s Environment Minister called for the establishment of a biodiversity fund at COP15, saying that the fund would provide developing countries with better access to finance and benefit sharing, according to a ministry statement yesterday.

What’s been happening at COP15? COP15 kicked off with an ambitious target to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 under the tagline 30×30. This year will see the adoption of a new global biodiversity framework — the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework — the first since the Aichi Biodiversity Targets established at COP10 in Nagoya, Japan in 2010.

What is the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework? The summit aims to adopt an equitable global diversity framework to address nature loss, and set clear targets for “overexploitation, pollution, fragmentation and unsustainable agricultural practices,” and to establish financing for biodiversity and sustainable investments, according to The UN Environment Program.

Biodiversity funding and the lack of agreement on a global diversity framework stalled talks at COP15, the BBC reports. Delegates from almost 70 developing countries — mostly from Africa and Latin America — walked out of talks last week as their calls for a new biodiversity fund were unmet. The delegates claimed that existing funding sources fall short of supporting them to implement any agreement that will emerge from the conference.

These countries house some of the most biodiverse regions, including the Amazon rainforest, and “bear a higher burden” in protecting biodiversity, Bloomberg reports citing statements made by Brazilian candidates last week. An earlier proposal saw developed countries committing at least USD 100 bn annually to biodiversity until 2030.

Who funds biodiversity protection? The Global Environment Facility (GEF) — set up as a pilot program by the World Bank in 1991 — is the main funder of biodiversity protection, providing around USD 25 bn in grants to finance biodiversity since it was founded. The GEF receives most of its financial contributions from the EU, which has strongly resisted establishing alternatives.

The UK and the US have been criticized for their lack of commitment: The UK has pledged almost GBP 30 mn to help developing countries keep a third of the planet available for nature, in addition to GBP 5 mn to support biodiversity projects, Energy Live News writes. Critics, however, pointed out that it does not have a 30×30 target for its protected areas at home, the Guardian wrote last week. The US, on the other hand, did not join the convention, according to the Guardian. Although the US has created a special biodiversity envoy that is attending the talks as an observer, the US has not shown any signs of joining the treaty.