The GreenWave Podcast: The Cali Fund - A Billion Dollars for Nature. Just US$7,085 in the Bank

Join SYNI, your hostess on the trail of another hot take, for today’s pod is titled “The Cali Fund - A Billion Dollars for Nature. Just 7,085 Dollars in the Bank.” The Cali Fund takes its name from Cali, Colombia, where UN-backed governments agreed to establish the facility in 2024. The fund seeks contributions from businesses benefiting commercially from nature’s genetic information. The money is intended to support biodiversity conservation and the countries and communities protecting it. Let's jump now to Yerevan, Armenia, where governments are meeting this week for COP 17, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The congress reported Cali Fund deposits stood at US$ 7,085 against an ambition of raising US$ 1 billion annually. Total commitments were US$ 10,656 dollars, including the money already deposited. That's a shocking black hole between contribution and ambition. SYNI asks what can be done to give the next company a credible reason to pay, and the next recipient a credible reason to plan. SNYI also looks at the serious, unambiguous questions surrounding the fund. Pharmaceutical companies have challenged its design, including how contributions should relate to their use of genetic information. We hope you enjoy the show.