The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy, will deliver the keynote address at the 5th Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance in Cape Town on 9 May 2023.

Hosted by the South African Government and United Nations Development Programme through its flagship Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), the Conference comes on the heels of the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Marking the 10th anniversary of the Initiative, the Conference will bring together member countries, government representatives, members of the private sector, experts and academics to explore opportunities for biodiversity finance solutions and investments in BIOFIN countries and regions.

Minister Creecy will share the podium at the opening session of the Global Conference with the Under-Secretary General of the UN and the executive director of UNEP, Ms Inger Andersen, Ms Karen Cope, the Deputy Subsecretary of Sustainable Production and Policies, Executive Office of the President of Brazil and H.E Chan Somaly, the Under Secretary of State and National BIOFIN Focal Point, Ministry of Environment, Cambodia. Video messages will be delivered by the Federal Minister for the Environment in Germany, Steffi Lemke, as well as the CEO of the Global Environment Fund, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez.

The Global Conference will facilitate experience sharing and technical discussions among all 41 BIOFIN countries creating a platform for lively discussions about results from its implementation to inform global audiences and future initiatives.

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) provides technical assistance and capacity building to support long term policy solutions that enable Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries to overcome those barriers, and secure an equitable nature-positive economic transition. This contributes to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focussing on poverty reduction, climate change and gender equality.

This Business Case supports a contribution of £2 million under the UNDP ‘Nature, Climate and Energy’ (NCE) funding window, to support Phase II of the BIOFIN programme.

Source: Government of South Africa