President, Dr Irfaan Ali in his address at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit, underscored that if the world is serious about biodiversity conservation efforts greater investment and commitment is needed.
President Ali noted that the initiative is a global movement to protect the living fabric of the planet. “We cannot overcome these challenges individually. We must build strong, resilient, sustainable partnerships so that we can overcome all the headwinds and storms that will come our way,” he noted.
He highlighted that across the globe, biodiversity is under siege, with the world losing an estimated 10 million hectares of forest and one million species face extinction every year.
“Wetlands are vanishing three times faster than forests and we are approaching irreversible tipping points in key ecosystems—from coral reefs to savannahs to rainforests. These changes are not remote or abstract, they are real, immediate, and devastating,” he added.
President Ali noted that a threat to biodiversity is a threat to the world’s population “very survival”.
“Biodiversity remains grossly underfunded. Today, we invest just $200 billion per year in nature. But to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework targets, we need at least $700 billion annually,” he said.
Notably, President Ali stated that in order to meet the financial needs for biodiversity protection, the world must more than triple global finance. He also outlined that they must also ensure that finance flows to where it is most needed, especially in the Global South.
The Global Biodiversity Alliance has pledged to prioritize scaling up blended finance to de-risk investment in nature-based enterprises, piloting biodiversity credits that reward stewardship and expanding debt-for-nature swaps.
However, President Ali noted that the Global Biodiversity Alliance cannot do this alone. He then made a call to other institutions to come on board. “We invite development banks, asset managers, impact investors, and sovereign wealth funds to join us. Because financing nature is not charity—it is insurance. It is resilience. It is return on investment,” he said.
The summit is being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) located in Liliendaal, Georgetown. The event is aimed at boosting commitment to biodiversity protection and brings together scientists, global leaders, private sector and indigenous leaders to mobilise global commitment.
