Canada steps up with new funding to protect biodiversity in developing countries

December 16, 2022 – Montréal, Quebec – Global Affairs Canada

The vast majority of the world’s biodiversity is found in developing countries, where the greatest impacts of the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are being felt.

As Canada hosts the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montréal, Quebec, from December 7 to 19, 2022, it continues to demonstrate its commitment to working with domestic and international partners to protect nature, halt biodiversity loss and build a sustainable future for generations to come. Yesterday, Canada joined like-minded countries to support a joint donor statement that sets out billions of dollars from the international community, including multilateral development banks, to protect and restore nature.

Today, at COP15, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced $255 million to help developing countries build a strong future, including by fighting climate change, protecting nature and supporting resilient local economies.

The funding is allocated primarily to the Global Environment Facility—the funding mechanism of the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity—making Canada its 7th-largest donor country. Funding will also go to the Feminist Climate Action in West Africa project; the United Nations Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative; and the Moroccan Forestry Strategy. Canada’s support will help developing countries scale up their financing to protect nature and improve climate resilience.

The funding announced today builds on the $350 million in funding announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the beginning of COP15 to support developing countries in advancing biodiversity efforts and to support the implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

The majority of the funding announced today is new, with some coming from Canada’s $1-billion commitment to leverage nature-based climate solutions and contribute to the protection, conservation and restoration of nature, which is part of a 5-year, $5.3-billion climate finance commitment made by Canada in 2021.