Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 July 2025, 18:09 by Writer
The leaders of Guyana and four other Caribbean nations were Wednesday among several signatories to a declaration establishing the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) that seeks to mobilise funding and other types of international support to protect and restore the broad variety of life on planet earth.
“We therefore commit to enhancing resource mobilization from all sources and aligning financial flows with biodiversity objectives, in accordance with the provisions and principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity,” states the four-page declaration that was signed at the Global Diversity Summit hosted by Guyana at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
President Irfaan Ali said in his opening address that the world invests just $200 billion per year in nature, but $700 billion is needed to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework targets.
“Innovative” financing options and instruments proposed in the declaration are biodiversity credits, green bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, payment for ecosystem services schemes, sustainable taxonomies that align sustainable investment with measurable outcomes in conservation, restoration, and ecosystem-based climate action, and facilities like the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.
Guyana has led the way with securing millions of United States (US) dollars for the protection of standing tropical forests and carbon credits, President Irfaan Ali noted. He said the Alliance’s five pillars are advancing global goal of conserving at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030; embedding biodiversity in national and corporate planning through measurable indicators; unlocking innovative finance, including biodiversity credits, green bonds, and debt-for-nature swaps; empowering Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities—the guardians of nature, and institutionalising monitoring and transparency through the Global Biodiversity Product and the Gross Biodiversity Power Index.
The signatories included Dr Ali, President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves, and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, as well as the Vice President of Ecuador María José Pinto.
They and several influential representatives in banking, environmental protection and academia as well as the Indigenous Indian community also inked the agreement.
They included Principal Executive of Ecosystems & Biodiversity at the Bank of Latin America & Caribbean (CAF) Mauricio Velasquez.
The 15 signatories called for strengthened international cooperation and the development of innovative financial mechanisms to support developing countries in achieving their biodiversity goals. They reaffirmed that the GBA would aim to “increase access to and availability of financing, through a menu of options, to address the biodiversity crisis.”
They welcomed plans to launch the Tropical Forest Forever Facility in Belém, Brazil, at COP 30, and recognize it as an innovative mechanism designed to mobilize long-term, results-based financing for tropical forest conservation.
Still in the area of financing, the declarants say multilateral organizations possess the convening power, technical expertise, and operational reach, to play a vital role in aligning global efforts and mobilising international cooperation and financing.
In his remarks, the President of the Dominican Republic singled out the challenge that sargassum seaweed was posing to the Caribbean. He said several sectors were being affected by that marine vegetation. “Sargassum is a serious threat. It affects marine life, coastal health, tourism and artisanal fishing. That is why we propose that this crisis be recognised as a priority at the regional level and we invite the Alliance to promote joint action by mobilising scientific, technical and financial cooperation to turn this challenge into sustainable opportunities,” he told the plenary session.
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, David Lammy also added his voice to the need for support in a number of areas to counter biodiversity loss. Those include mobilising finance with innovations such as green bonds, biodiversity credits, strengthening education and research to identify and promote nature-based solutions and empowering local and indigenous communities. – “the best custodians of nature there are.” He said the UK was the top contributor to the Global Biodiversity Fund. He congratulated President Ali for launching the Global Biodiversity Alliance by bringing together such a “group of powerful advocates for nature in Guyana”.
President Ali, in his opening address, said the GBA, which would be headquartered in Guyana” is a “rallying call to arms” to governments, institutions, investors, communities and citizens. He said the three pillars are that biodiversity is the foundation of life, measuring it is a foundation of meaningful action, and that investing in it is not a luxury. “We need a global biodiversity alliance because nature does not follow borders and neither should our efforts to protect it,” he said.
Other signatories were the Former President of Colombia Iván Duque, Chief Executive Officer of Conservation International Dr M. Sanjayan; Managing Director, Center for Biodiversity and Global Change at Yale University Dr. Alexander Killion, Executive Director of Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) Dr. Christof Schenck, Senior Director of the Keller Science Action Center at the Chicago Field Museum Dr. Erin Hagen, and Director of the Campaign for Nature Brian O’Donnell.
Also signing were Mr. Mauricio Velasquez, Principal Executive of Ecosystems & Biodiversity at the Bank of Latin America & Caribbean (CAF); James Cooper, Head of Origination EMEA, Environmental Products, Mercuria/ Silvania; Derrick John, Chairperson, National Toshaos Council, Guyana, and Leroy Ignacio, Makushi Conservation Leader, South Rupununi Conservation Society (SRCS).
Discover more from Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
