Biodiversity is fundamental to feed a hungry planet - IFAD at COP16 Colombia

Cali, 22 October 2024 - The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is urging global leaders at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP16) taking place in Cali, Colombia, to direct greater focus and funding to small-scale farmers. Insisting that they are on the frontlines of biodiversity loss and climate change and must be able to sustainably grow a variety of crops for local and global consumption and in particular for the over 3 billion people who cannot afford a healthy diet.

This approach is crucial as the world faces a dual challenge: feeding a growing population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 while reversing the degradation of the natural environment.

“Addressing this situation requires transforming agri-food systems to become more sustainable and biodiversity-friendly, and this transformation includes adopting agroecological practices and promoting agrobiodiversity,” said Oliver Page, IFAD’s Climate Change and Environmental Specialist for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, leading the IFAD delegation at COP16.

“IFAD recognises that a degraded environment and the climate crises are interconnected, and we need holistic solutions to tackle both. This is why in 2021 we committed to channelling 30% of our climate finance to support nature-based solutions by 2030,” he added.

Following the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity at COP15 in 2022, IFAD is committed to delivering on a people-focused approach, balancing nature, livelihoods, and food security. In parallel, the Fund is focusing on biodiversity more than ever in its new investments and has adopted its own biodiversity strategy to incorporate the protection, sustainable use and promotion of biodiversity in its operations.

Biodiversity is fundamental to sustainable agri-food systems. It reinforces agriculture productivity and resilience playing a key role in pollination, nutrient cycling, pest control, and genetic diversity. It also supports ecosystem services like water purification, and nutrient cycling, which contribute an estimated 125 trillion dollars annually to the global economy. Biodiversity loss results in a weakening ecosystem and its capacity to support life.

Small-scale farmers, Indigenous Peoples, youth, women and value chain partners in developing countries can play a key role in preserving biodiversity and should receive more support through direct access to financing, but they are currently under-represented in both national and international processes and financing.

Donor countries’ support to agricultural development has been stagnant at just 4-6% of total official development assistance over the last decade. Small-scale farmers get less than one percent of global climate finance, about a meagre US$5.53 billion – to adapt to a new climate reality, far from answering the needs. It is estimated that US$ 300 to 400 billion a year are needed to transform food systems globally and make them more sustainable, equitable and resilient.

Small-scale farmers produce one third of the world’s food and a significant part of the food produced in many developing countries yet their livelihoods and capacity to feed the planet are threatened by changing rain patterns, the deterioration of ecosystems and unprecedented extreme weather events linked to climate change.

COP16 negotiations expects parties to move towards closing the biodiversity finance gap of US$700 billion per year, and work towards aligning financial flows with the GBF.  

IFAD is scaling up partnerships with financing entities including the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its new GBF Fund, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Adaptation Fund (AF). Likewise, IFAD has built a diversified GEF portfolio covering a wide range of activities related to biodiversity and sustainable land management and co-leads the GEF8 Integrated Program on Food Systems which aims to catalyse national and global shifts towards sustainable nature-positive production systems.

IFAD AT COP16

To draw attention to challenges and solutions, IFAD delegates will contribute to more than 20 side-events that focus on biodiversity, finance, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience, and will feature experts, Indigenous Peoples, small-scale farmers, youth, and development partners.

This year, IFAD is partnering with CBD and FAO to jointly host the event “Creating an enabling environment for sustainable agri-food systems” on 28 October from 11:30 – 13:00 during the Food Day at the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Pavilion (Blue Zone). Representatives from the finance sector and farmers’ organizations will engage in a roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities of leveraging finance for sustainable food systems.