Friends of the Cali Fund present joint statement at London Climate Action Week
The global Cali Fund, established in 2016 in Cali as part of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), aims to co-finance the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity worldwide from private funds. The fund is to be based on voluntary payments from companies, for example from Germany and Europe, for the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources. The Federal Government supports the statement of the Friends of the Cali Fund advocating private nature conservation financing presented during the London Climate Action Week. With their joint statement, the Friends of the Cali Fund are now sending a global signal of their cooperation in support of the CBD process.
Federal Environment Ministry State Secretary, Jochen Flasbarth, commented: "For the Friends of the Cali Fund, joint cooperation between states and industry for the conservation of biological diversity is especially important. The Friends of the Cali Fund provides a platform for states and representatives of the private sector to discuss their questions and ideas on payments for the use of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, jointly develop solutions for an effective, low-bureaucracy and voluntary financial structure of the fund and mechanism and thus increase willingness to provide support. It is particularly important to the Federal Government to also include the interests and views of industry in the future."
The Friends of the Cali Fund (FCF) is a global informal partnership of countries that are Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity aimed at the successful implementation of the multilateral financing instrument. The Cali Fund is to be financed primarily through contributions from large companies that use digital sequence information (DSI). The funds of the global fund are to be used independently for implementing the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity in developing countries and to benefit, among others, indigenous peoples and local communities.
Germany supports the FCF together with Armenia, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the European Commission. In their statement, the Friends of the Cali Fund commit to strengthening the Cali Fund as the key global instrument for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of DSI. For the Friends of the Cali Fund the avoidance of double payments for the use of DSI and legal certainty are essential.