Cali Fund:
The ‘Cali Fund’ was launched at the resumed 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rome.
- It is a new international fund has been created to help protect biodiversity.
- It will collect money from private companies. These companies use genetic data from nature in their businesses.
- The Cali Fund will receive money from businesses that rely on Digital Sequence Information (DSI).
- DSI includes genetic data from plants, animals, and microorganisms. Industries like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, and biotechnology use DSI to develop products.
- Under this new system, they will now have to contribute a part of their revenue to support biodiversity efforts.
- The money collected will be used in several ways.
- It will support biodiversity conservation projects, help developing countries implement their biodiversity action plans, and fund scientific research to improve how genetic data is stored and used.
- At least 50 per cent of its resources will go to indigenous peoples and local communities, recognising their crucial role in protecting nature.
- This is the first time that a global biodiversity fund under the UN will receive direct contributions from businesses.
- This fund will be managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme.
- This marks an important step in ensuring industries benefiting from biodiversity also contribute to its conservation.
- It is seen as a key step towards meeting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) goal of stopping and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.
