Mexico Urges Greater Biodiversity Finance as COP17 Exposes Global Funding Gaps

• 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘖𝘗17 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘌𝘹30𝘹30. • 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘚$200 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 2030. • 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘚$500 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘴. • 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 32% 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥.

Mexico is using the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), held in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to 30, to call for stronger international financing and practical cooperation to halt biodiversity loss.

Led by Marina Robles, Undersecretary of Biodiversity and Environmental Restoration at Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the delegation is advocating for financial resources, technology transfer, scientific cooperation, and capacity building to help countries implement their biodiversity commitments.

Mexico is presenting initiatives, including the Great Maya Forest Biocultural Corridor, a cooperation project with Guatemala and Belize formalized through the Calakmul Declaration in August 2025.

It is also highlighting MEx30x30, which received US$18.5 million from the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) to strengthen the management of federal Protected Natural Areas.

These efforts support Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for conserving at least 30% of land, inland waters, and marine and coastal areas by 2030.

COP17 marks the halfway point toward the framework’s 2030 targets and provides the first global review of implementation progress. Although around 90% of the Convention’s 196 parties have established national biodiversity targets, fewer than half of the assessed targets are on track. Financing remains a major constraint.

Countries mobilized US$186.4 billion cumulatively between 2020 and 2023, averaging less than US$50 billion annually against the target of US$200 billion per year by 2030. International public biodiversity finance reached just US$17.7 billion over the same period, below the US$20 billion annual target set for 2025.

New commitments announced on October 26 exceeded US$500 million for the Global Environment Facility and the GBFF. Contributions to the GBFF exceeded US$60 million, including approximately US$57 million from Germany. The fund has programmed US$362.1 million for 82 projects across 87 countries, with initiatives led by Indigenous peoples and local communities accounting for 32% of programmed resources.

As biodiversity requirements increasingly influence investment, sourcing, and supply chain decisions, Cognitud can help organizations assess nature-related dependencies and risks, identify impacts across operations and suppliers, and develop biodiversity strategies with measurable targets.

Integrating these considerations into procurement, resource management, and sustainability planning can help businesses prepare for evolving disclosure expectations and support more informed decisions about nature-related impacts.