Four of the world’s 36 recognised biodiversity hotspots are in India, while the World Wildlife Fund’s latest Living Planet report shows a decline of up to 73 percent in wild animal populations across the world. At a time when the earth is facing its worst biodiversity crisis, the issue of financing looms large. 

Ahead of the UN climate summit (COP 29) at Baku in Azerbaijan, nearly 200 countries have gathered in Colombia’s Cali to brainstorm on conserving biodiversity. This meeting, held every two years, is called Convention on Biodiversity. In the last biodiversity summit in 2022, a historical Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework was signed, with all nations required to adhere to four goals and 23 targets. 

Before the ongoing summit, India also submitted its roadmap to conserve biodiversity. Among the targets to be achieved by 2030 are 30 percent conservation of land, sea, and inland waters, 30 percent restoration of degraded ecosystems, and halving the introduction of invasive species. But these require huge finances.

World leaders have agreed to mobilise $200 billion per year by the year 2030 for biodiversity conservation. At least 10 percent of this fund is set to come from developed countries. But is it so easy? 

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