October 2026: COP17: SCB Europe Region calls for parties to commit to allocating 1% GDP to the conservation of Biodiversity
2026-10-15 17:11:00
SCB Europe Region is coming to COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia, to present our Call for Parties to Commit 1% of GDP to Conservation of Biodiversity.
SCB Europe Region will be hosting a side event
on this topic in the Netherlands Pavilion, Blue Zone. In this session, we will
present the statement and host a discussion with biodiversity experts and
policymakers on the justifications for setting the goal of allocating 1% of GDP
for Biodiversity. Current commitments to the funding of nature conservation are
inadequate and every additional year that we negotiate and wait, sees the
shortfall in funding of the GBF targets growing larger. The planet needs a
simple solution now, and we propose 1% of GDP as a simple, realistic and easily
implementable solution. Who could deny investing 1% of GDP to conserving the
biodiversity on which all human endeavour is dependent?
Statement: A Call for Parties to Commit 1% of GDP to Biodiversity Conservation
Statement
to the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity
The Kunming-Montreal
Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted in December 2022 at the
15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada, with a set of 23 targets to be achieved by
2030, following on from the 20 Aichi
targets for 2020 that were set in 2011, which were agreed at COP10 in 2010.
According to the draft UN CBD report that has been released this summer, we are
falling short on 22 of the 23 GBF targets. There has been agreement at all of
the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the CBD on the urgent need for
measures to address the loss of biodiversity, but primarily due to the lack of
agreement on how to finance efforts to reach those targets, progress has
remained at an inadequate level.
To address this shortfall, SCB Europe will submit a
statement to COP17, which will take place in Armenia during 19-30th October,
calling for parties to allocate at least 1% GDP to conservation measures that
will facilitate progress to the achievement of the GBF targets. Based on the
latest IMF
estimates of global GDP, this measure would raise US$1.263 trillion, which
is close to the current
estimated deficit of US$1.263 trillion. Specifically we call on the Parties at COP17 to:
● Recognize
that domestic resource mobilization has been the most persistent shortfall in
delivering Target 19, and that clearer national benchmarks are essential to
resolve this issue.
● Invite
Parties to adopt a national target of allocating at least 1% of GDP to
biodiversity conservation and restoration, phased in progressively and
reflected in updated NBSAPs.
● Request
the CBD Secretariat, in cooperation with the Subsidiary Body on Implementation,
to develop guidance for consistent national reporting of biodiversity-related
public expenditure as a share of GDP, to support comparability across Parties.
● Ensure
that any such domestic benchmark is treated as additional to, and not
substitute for, existing international finance commitments to biodiversity
conservation in developing country Parties under Target 19(a) and the Cali
Fund.
● Invite
Parties to develop a mechanism for international financial solidarity to
protect the global biodiversity hotspots.
If no mechanism for funding action towards achieving the GBF targets emerges from COP17, then we are unlikely to get any closer to the GBF targets than we did to the Aichi and the 2010 target that the parties committed themselves to at COP6. Our proposal of 1% of GDP represents a mechanism that has the potential for rapid implementation, is fair to all parties and represents a considerably smaller sum than most parties spend on defence procurement, for instance.
Side Event at COP17
The side-event on 1% GDP for Biodiversity is organized by
SCB Europe Region, represented by Geert de Snoo (Leiden University, the
Netherlands), Stephen Venn (University of Oulu, Finland) and Volker Mauerhofer
(Ghent University, Belgium; Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan). This
session is part of the Netherlands
Pavilion programme, which brings together more than 60 sessions on
biodiversity finance and the water–biodiversity–food nexus.
🌱 1% GDP for Biodiversity
📅 Wednesday 28 October |
11.15-12.15 (local time)
📍Netherlands Pavilion,
Blue Zone