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New Global Fund for Coral Reefs seeks to raise, invest $ 500m in 10 years
The new Global Fund for Coral Reefs seeks to raise and invest $ 500 million in coral reefs conservation in the coming 10 years. The fund is the first of its kind and was launched on the sidelines of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
The fund was given the go-ahead with a coalition of partners convening to mobilize resources to make coral reefs more resilient.
The fund, a finance instrument that blends private and public funding, will also support businesses and finance mechanisms that improve the health and sustainability of coral reefs and associated ecosystems while empowering local communities and enterprises.
Found in over 100 countries and territories globally, coral reefs support a quarter of all marine life—up to 1 million species. They also provide at least half a billion people with jobs and food while protecting coastlines from storms and flooding. Despite their immense value and immense vulnerability, the protection of coral reefs has been underfunded on a global scale.
Coral reefs are recognized as a critical ecosystem in the post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, and a recommendation by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) calls for protection of coral reefs.
According to the recently released fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook, coral reefs have “shown the most rapid increase in extinction risk of all assessed groups” due to human pressures, including climate change.
Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said: “We have great opportunities for global collaboration on coral reef protection, management and restoration coming up with the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We urge the global community to come together to capitalize this critical Fund in order to change the trajectory for coral reefs and save this precious ecosystem.”
The Global Fund for Coral Reefs has a dual focus. Firstly, it seeks to facilitate the uptake of innovative financing mechanisms, including private market-based investments focused on coral reef conservation and restoration. Secondly, it seeks to unlock financing for coral reef-related climate adaptation through the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and multilateral development banks.
The multi-party initiative to mobilize resources for the Fund includes public, philanthropic, and private actors, including: the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, BNP Paribas, Althelia Funds, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNEP, and UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), putting a spotlight on unique partnerships towards coral protection and SDG 14, on ‘Life Below Water’. The two-hour high-level event will kickstart fundraising efforts for the global fund and will showcase the innovative finance instrument geared at mobilizing resources for the resilience of corals, one of Earth’s richest sources of biodiversity and the communities that rely on them.
The Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Achim Steiner, said: “Innovative finance for conservation is a central pillar of UNDP’s strategy. Without nature, many SDGs cannot be achieved. As the world’s first UN multi-partner trust fund for SDG14, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs will unleash the power of private sector financing for conservation while supporting countries to rebuild and enhance resilience to COVID-19 and other shocks.”
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