This is one of the main outcomes of the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, held on 22 and 23 June 2023 in Paris, France. Congolese President Denis Sassou N’Guesso, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, three heads of state committed to protecting forests. John Kerry, the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, Sultan Al-Jaber, President-designate of the 28th United Nations Climate Conference (COP28), the World Bank, Razan Al-Mubarak, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Conservation International, the Rob Walton Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund, the Moore Foundation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Minderoo Foundation and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
On the sidelines of the Paris meeting, these 15 global players agreed on the need to forge new partnerships to enable forest countries and the international community to protect and finance the world’s largest vital reserves of carbon and biodiversity. Meeting at the Élysée Palace in Paris on 22 June 2023, they announced six commitments to protect and finance natural capital. The main focus was on the three major tropical forest regions: the Amazon, the Congo Basin in Central Africa and South-East Asia.
An additional contribution of 15 million dollars
Among the six commitments, the American wildlife conservation organisation, Wildlife Conservation Society, has pledged to make a contribution of 15 million US dollars. This is in addition to the $100 million already pledged at the Libreville Summit by France, Conservation International and the Rob Walton Foundation.
Another American organisation, the Bezos Earth Fund and the backers of the “Protecting Our Planet Challenge” initiative have pledged to invest $5 billion between now and 2030 to support the creation, extension and management of protected areas.
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These commitments, which follow on from the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, aim to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. They will be implemented in collaboration with the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), launched at COP26 by 26 countries and the European Union (EU).
Boris Ngounou