2011-11-Brussels
Intergroup of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Meeting
8 November 2011
European Parliament
Brussels, Belgium
Since the adoption of the “Nagoya Declaration on Biodiversity in Development Cooperation” at the CBD COP10 meeting in Nagoya in October 2010, both government and non-government institutions have endeavored to develop a strategy for resource mobilisation in the pursuit of coordinated biodiversity and cooperation and development goals.
In support of this effort, the European Intergroup of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development hosted the meeting “Implementing CBD COP10 outcomes in Developing countries: Which strategy for resource mobilisation?” in Brussels on 8 November 2011. The meeting was chaired by MEP Charles Goerens and included presentations from five relevant organisations.
As one of the speakers, Dr. Andrew Seidl, Head of the Global Economics and Environment Programme at the IUCN and GDI Board member, gave a presentation entitled “Towards innovative financial mechanisms for biodiversity conservation”. During the presentation, Dr. Seidl emphasized how there is a current “funding gap” in Official Development Assistance (ODA) for biodiversity conservation, but also how the gap may be bridged though innovative financial mechanisms engaging the private sector. For example, he noted, there has been evidence of increased demand for voluntary compliance programmes, and market sectors such as the global organic market are growing quickly.
Dr. Seidl went on to describe the role of the GDI as an innovative financial mechanism explaining that it can help to target private and public investment funds for biodiversity and potentially create a market for certified biodiversity-responsible land management.
