Ms Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director
Ms Steffi Lemke, Minister of the Environment of the Federal Republic of Germany
Ms Karen Cope, Deputy Sub-Secretary of Sustainable Production and Policies, Executive office of the President of Brazil
Her Excellency Somaly Chan, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Environment of Cambodia
Mr Simon Mafela of the Tshivhula Communal Property Association
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Morning

It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to our beautiful country for the 5th Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance.

South Africa, as many of you know, is considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the world making us custodians of an exceptional richness in species and endemism.  Our country also hosts three of the 36 recognised biodiversity hotspots worldwide – one of these being the Cape Floristic Region.  We are also home to 29 official Ramsar sites – the most recently declared being the Middelvlei nature reserve, which is also home to unique water and migratory bird species.

South Africa’s biodiversity is not only a national and cultural asset, but is also a source of economic prosperity through the sustainable use of a wide variety of plants, and wildlife. 

This year our government adopted the White Paper on the Sustainable use of South Africa’s Biological Diversity, which outlines four strategic goals of conservation, sustainable use, equitable sharing of benefits and transformation.  We regard this white paper as our own strategy to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the Kunming/Montreal Convention on Biodiverity in December last year.

Among the approaches embraced by the Convention on Biological Diversity is the use of incentives through which people can be motivated to conserve and use biodiversity sustainably.  Today we can explore an array of different instruments, based upon bioregional and social characteristics, as well as the nature of the threat to biodiversity, to encourage biodiversity conservation in different areas.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is a growing understanding by government and business in South Africa that the economic and social development of South Africa depends on healthy ecosystems and biodiversity. 

Research conducted in 2017 (and updated in 2022) found that just some of the many ecosystem services provided by natural ecosystems in South Africa could be valued at R275 billion per year (R325 billion in 2022). This conservative valuation is equivalent to 7% of the country’s GDP.

Biodiversity is also the basis for substantial employment in economic activities that depend on biodiversity for their core business, including such industries as the wildlife economy, ecotourism, natural resource management, biotrade and research.

In 2014, biodiversity-related employment was estimated at approximately 400 000 jobs. A survey of retail stores found 549 products containing indigenous South African species, such as Aloe, rooibos, honey-bush, baobab and hoodia are just some local plants that have been used in lucrative international medicinal, cosmetic or food products.

Many local and international tourists travel in South Africa to take part in nature-based activities and to view and enjoy our diverse country. Approximately 12% of tourism demand, or R31 billion, is based on biodiversity, and tourists attractions account for R1 billion in tax spent on products and 88 000 direct jobs.

A strong connection with nature is associated with the health and well-being of our citizens. There are approximately 2 000 medicinal plant species in South Africa and traditional medicines are used by 70% of South Africa’s people, providing 293 000 South Africans with income generating opportunities and contributing about R18 billion to our economy each year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Despite these important developments, there is still a massive financial gap when it comes to funding in the biodiversity sector. This gap is both global and local. Some estimates put the global biodiversity funding gap at USD 598 to 824 billion per year by 2030.

BIOFIN has costed our own National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) of 2018 and  revealed that the cost of implementation is approximately R63 billion ($3.7 billion) at 2018 values over the planned 10 years of implementation. This costing was prior to the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework and we can now safely estimate that the costs will be considerably more.

South Africa is one of the more than forty countries piloting BIOFIN. Our country’s Biodiversity Expenditure Review, completed in 2018, showed that government remains the biggest source of finance for biodiversity.

A rough update of the figures for 2021 showed that about R17.8 billion ($1.1 billion) was allocated in that year, accounting for less than 1% of government spending. This was supplemented with R849 million (less than a billion rand)  from the private sector (largely related to private nature reserves) and R597 million ($35 million) from NGOs.

International donors such as the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) have been a much-appreciated feature of conservation practice in South Africa.  Over the previous four GEF-funding cycles since 2010, more than $100 million has been committed for biodiversity projects in South Africa.

The Protected Area Expansion Strategy remains a significant cost for the biodiversity sector and the requirements to deliver South Africa’s protected area targets including the “30 by 30” target calls for increased spending in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, as we discuss this important topic of funding for Biodiversity I want to suggest we consider three factors: the first is the link between our biodiversity and our climate change objectives and how we can use our carbon sequestration objectives to cross-subsidise the biodiversity sector particularly in developing countries.

The second consideration is that not all countries have agricultural or other subsidies which we can switch to conservation use. We all know that most mega biodiverse countries are primarily located in the developing south.  For many countries tourism is the only sustainable source of revenue for conservation and the Covid 19 pandemic substantially dented these revenue sources which have not recovered. This poses new and dangerous risks to conservation and biodiversity.

Finally, neither our biodiversity, nor our climate change objectives can be achieved either by GEF funding or by further loans to developing countries, the majority of which are already heavily indebted. This calls for significant reform of the global financial system and of multilateral development banks. Mechanisms such as debt for biodiversity swops; payment for ecosystem services, as well as greater availability of grant financing and concessional loans must be considered in the context of achieving sustainable financing mechanisms for developing countries.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to wish you every success in your discussions in the coming days and that you will provide the solutions we so badly need.

I thank you