Efforts to raise hundreds of billions of dollars to preserve the world's oceans, forests, and rivers have fallen short of commitments made in 2022, creating a significant funding gap ahead of the United Nations biodiversity conference, known as COP17. The summit, which begins Monday in Yerevan, Armenia, will focus on the disparity between national ambitions to protect nature and the actual financial resources mobilized to achieve them. Nearly 200 countries that are parties to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will assess progress on 23 global targets, including the pledge to protect 30% of land and water by 2030, known as '30x30.' The United States is not a party to the treaty.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive voices and international conservation leaders argue that the current funding levels are insufficient to halt the collapse of global ecosystems and that wealthy nations are failing to meet their financial obligations to developing countries. Astrid Schomaker, the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, stated that the world is not moving fast enough, noting that fewer than half of the parties' biodiversity targets are on track. She emphasized that the crucial question for the conference is how to increase finance to flow toward biodiversity-positive outcomes.
Dorothy Maseke, head of the African Natural Capital Alliance Secretariat, argued that many developing countries with significant biodiversity cannot finance conservation because their governments are prioritizing healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Daniel Mukubi, the biodiversity negotiator for Congo, highlighted that overseas development assistance, including from the United States, has dropped significantly, leading to weakened law enforcement in critical habitats. He described investing in the Congo Basin as a cost-effective insurance policy for the global market, warning that ecosystem collapse could result in economic damages costing tens of trillions of dollars.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative perspectives on this issue often focus on the economic implications of environmental regulations and the role of the private sector in financing conservation. While the source material primarily reflects institutional and developing-nation viewpoints, the launch of a 17-nation coalition to accelerate species recovery, supported by nine private organizations including the Bezos Earth Fund, indicates a growing trend of private-sector involvement. These organizations have announced plans to spend $500 million over the next five years to prevent extinctions, suggesting that non-governmental actors are stepping in to fill gaps left by public funding shortfalls.
Critics of increased public spending on environmental targets often argue that subsidies reform is necessary to redirect existing funds rather than creating new taxes or levies. The focus on phasing out or reforming subsidies that harm nature, estimated at $500 billion, aligns with free-market arguments that government support for sectors like fisheries and agriculture should be reduced to level the playing field for sustainable practices. Brian O'Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, noted that while methods for protection are clear, an upswing in political ambition is needed, a sentiment that can be interpreted as a call for deregulation of harmful subsidies rather than just increased spending.
What the Numbers Show
Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that countries raised between $75 billion and $92 billion annually for biodiversity from 2023 to 2025. This is less than half of the $200 billion per year goal set for 2030. A UN progress report found that current commitments would only protect 26% of land and 12% of the sea by 2030, falling short of the 30x30 target.
Regarding subsidies, countries promised to phase out or reform subsidies that could provide another $500 billion for nature, but these commitments have gained little traction with few countries identifying which subsidies they would cut. An estimated $7.3 trillion in subsidies currently harm nature, which is about 30 times more than what was invested in nature-based solutions in 2023, according to the Campaign for Nature. On the positive side, countries were on track to provide $20 billion to poor countries by 2025, with $19 billion raised in 2024, though a drop in foreign aid raises concerns about future trends.
The WWF's 2026 Living Planet Report indicates that wildlife populations have declined by an average of 73% between 1970 and 2022. Additionally, a 2019 UN report found that three-quarters of the world's land has been severely altered by humans, and one million species are threatened with extinction. Despite these declines, over 5,000 initiatives tied to the treaty have been announced, and countries in Latin America have committed to protecting 29% of their land, while those in Oceania have promised to preserve 41% of their seas.
The Bottom Line
The central tension at COP17 is the gap between stated goals and financial reality. While some progress has been made in specific regions and through private initiatives, the global community is significantly behind on funding targets necessary to achieve the 2030 biodiversity goals. The conference will likely focus on mechanisms to increase private sector investment and enforce the reduction of harmful subsidies, which are far larger than the current conservation budgets. With the US not participating in the treaty and foreign aid from several nations declining, the burden of financing global biodiversity protection may increasingly fall on a mix of developing nation initiatives, private philanthropy, and multilateral agreements like the High Seas Treaty. The outcome will depend on whether nations can agree on concrete financial commitments and subsidy reforms in the coming weeks.