Experts at UNFCCC COP29 emphasise need for finance mobilization to conserve primary forest biodiversity and combat climate change

Panellists gather in the IUCN Pavilion in Baku, Azerbaijan, for a UNFCCC COP29 side event on financing primary forests for people, biodiversity, and climate.

In alignment with the theme “Sustainable Forest-Based Bioeconomy for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation,” IUCN and partners from The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), including FAO, the GEF, and the UNFF Secretariat, organized this side event to highlight how innovative financing mechanisms can be leveraged to protect and conserve primary forests and their biodiversity, while also combating climate change and contributing to international climate targets.

As the world races to meet climate and biodiversity goals, primary forests emerge as essential ecosystems offering unparalleled value. Not only do they act as significant carbon sinks, but they are also biodiversity hotspots that support countless species and provide ecosystem services vital to human wellbeing. Despite this, financing mechanisms traditionally separate climate and biodiversity goals, risking inefficiency and creating gaps. Despite being critical to safeguarding biodiversity and combating climate change, primary forests are not sufficiently incorporated into national policy agendas or Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and their action plans.

This session emphasised the need to rethink financing and conservation strategies for primary forests vis-à-vis climate and biodiversity. The event began with welcome remarks from Juliette Biao, Director of the United Nations Forum on Forest Secretariat, where explained the irreplaceable role forests must play in addressing climate and biodiversity: “We need a paradigm shift that integrates climate, biodiversity, land, and forest financing to address the fragmentation of forest funding. This shift should ensure a coordinated, sustainable, and consistent flow of financing, creating a unified funding landscape for primary forest conservation.”

Opening remarks from Stewart Maginnis, Deputy Director General of IUCN, followed, exploring how views on primary forests, biodiversity, and climate change interlinkages have evolved over time, while emphasising the need for innovative, novel, and inclusive financing solutions to address the threat of widespread species extinction: “Recognizing the biodiversity and climate interlinkages is not enough if we don’t develop the mechanisms, especially the financial mechanisms, to operationalize this. There is a real urgent need for innovation in this field. Today is just the start of the conversation on how we might navigate towards that.”

Her Excellency Nilda Borges da Mata, Minister of Environment for São Tomé and Príncipe, then delivered a keynote address which expanded on the country’s many forest conservation successes—including its work with IUCN through The Restoration Initiative (TRI)—as well as challenges that persist and the need for stronger policy to protect these ecosystems: “Primary forests are the lungs of the world. It is therefore necessary that we recognize primary forests as a cause for concern in the international community, not just in developing countries.”

Monique Frison, Director General of the Trade, Economics, and Industry Branch of Canada’s Department of Natural Resources, highlighted two successful forest financing models—the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) and The Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP)—that support local communities and offer lessons on scaling participatory approaches to sustainable livelihood development, ecosystem conservation, and climate change mitigation: “It’s difficult to talk about things that we might do to help the forest without then also talking abut the very broad varieties of things we want from the forest. Thinking about all of those multiple values together allows many people and interests to come around the table to ensure that a forested landscape is managed sustainably for all of those values in the long run.”

Additional speakers were then invited to share their diverse views on primary forest financing, with a focus on the perspectives of countries, governments, and funding and implementing agencies. “Bhutan was the first country to commit to remaining carbon neutral. We firmly believe that while it is important to address both climate change and biodiversity loss, we need global support,” said Dorji Wangdi, Principal Forestry Officer for the Department of Forests and Park Services of Bhutan’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. He highlighted Bhutan’s ambitious climate commitments, as well as the launch of the Bhutan-led G-ZERO forum, where countries will work together to raise ambitions in support of carbon-neutral and -negative economies.

Nicolas Schaefstoss, Head of International Finance for Germany’s Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, pointed out that Germany has long been an advocate for better recognition of the linkages between climate and biodiversity, as well as the need to enhance cooperation, coherence, and impact across the Rio Conventions. Through programmes such as the International Climate Initiative (IKI), Germany is mainstreaming biodiversity in its climate financing: “It’s a dedicated programme to finance and support emerging and developing economies to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework. We even stronger now try to foster the synergies between these two Conventions.”

“Protecting tropical forests will by definition address both climate and biodiversity. Governments that integrate tropical forests and sustainable land use planning into their NDCs and the NBSAPs, are well placed to deliver results,” said Tore Langhelle, Senior Adviser to Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI). He also stressed that harmonizing NDCs and NBSAPs will further maximize impact and prepare for accessing finance through public-private funding partnerships like the LEAF Coalition.

However, for financing to be effective, rigorous data is a necessity. “Without transparent and standardized data, our ability to understand, assess, and safeguard these ecosystems is limited,” explained Amy Duchelle, Senior Forestry Officer and Team Leader for Forest and Climate at FAO. This is why knowledge products like the Global Forest Resources Assessments are vital, as they offer insight the many benefits that primary and intact forests offer, while also tracking deforestation trends.

Pascal Martinez, Senior Climate Change Specialist and Thematic Lead for Forests and Wildlife at the GEF Secretariat, called attention to the importance of partnerships for achieving policy coherence and unlocking finance and pointed to the GEF’s leadership in this area: “Financing is of course very important to the GEF because we are the financing mechanism of the Rio Conventions. Addressing the climate and biodiversity crises is part of our DNA.”

Audience interventions underscored the importance of addressing underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation—such as unsustainable agriculture practices and economic incentives—educating and actively engaging stakeholders in forest conservation, and streamlining information sharing to maximise the reach of financing mechanisms and climate initiatives.

Chetan Kumar, the Global Head of Forest and Grasslands at IUCN and moderator for the session, closed the session by reflecting on the positive progress that has been made by IUCN and partners on this issue. Despite the many challenges that remain, he remarked, “The partnerships, knowledge, insight, and awareness that we have built will help us move forward in a cohesive and impactful way.”

By connecting diverse stakeholders, this event provided a roadmap connecting CBD COP16 to UNFCCC COP29 and COP30, illustrating how robust forest financing measures are needed to achieve climate and biodiversity goals. As COP29 ends and decision-makers look ahead to COP30—set to take place next year in Belém, Brazil—there is a clear opportunity to scale and operationalize integrated financing models so that ecosystems like primary forests are conserved and countries can meet their climate and biodiversity commitments.

The full session can be viewed online here.

For more information, contact Katherine Poe, Programme Associate, IUCN Forest and Grasslands Team at [email protected].