Deputy Minister N Singh: Statement at the 6th BIOFIN Conference in Santiago, Chile

06 May 2025

“From biodiversity loss to biodiversity wealth: Financing Africa’s nature-based future”

Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Delegates, Esteemed Colleagues,

We gather here against the backdrop of a successful CBD COP 16 held in Colombia and Rome, which marked the establishment of the Cali Fund and the adoption of modalities for operationalising the multilateral mechanism for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources. As South Africa, we look forward to advancing deliberations on this matter and engaging at the technical level to develop an implementation roadmap. To demonstrate our commitment, the South African delegation at this conference is supported at the highest political level, reflecting strong collaboration between the Ministries of Environment, Department of International Relations and Cooperation as represented here by his Excellency, our Ambassador to the Republic of Chile, Ministry of finance, and other financial institutions to ensure the realisation of these goals.

In line with the commitments made under the Global Biodiversity Framework, we recognise the need for close collaboration on the means of implementation-including finance, capacity development, and technology sharing. Closing the financing gap and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 will require funding from all sources. Traditional conservation funding falls drastically short, with the global biodiversity financing gap estimated between five hundred and eight hundred billion united states dollars annually. Public funds alone cannot bridge this divide.

Bridging the biodiversity funding gap demands innovative financing approaches beyond traditional mechanisms, unlocking new funding streams to support more effective conservation efforts. We need comprehensive strategies that mobilise financial resources from domestic public finances, international funding, and private sector investment. Collectively, this should enable scaled-up, new, additional, and predictable financing-particularly through grants and concessional finance. Such funding must create enabling environments for rapid investment, mitigate risks, and support the development of new asset classes for biodiversity investments, thereby facilitating greater mobilisation of both public and private finance.

While much of this financing is expected to come from international public sources and multilateral institutions, these must be complemented by nationally led efforts that support the development of locally tailored, country-owned solutions. Effective financing must be translated into specific national contexts and objectives.

Furthermore, we must address the dual challenges of climate and biodiversity financing. Biodiversity and ecosystems play a vital role in climate regulation, disaster risk reduction, and provide essential services that underpin livelihoods and economic activities.

South Africa is engaging key stakeholders to advance an integrated financing strategy. This involves government seed capital, supplemented by grants from bilateral donors and vertical funds, leveraging concessional finance from development finance institutions, and attracting private sector investment through blended finance models and alternative revenue streams.

Our Biodiversity Finance Plan (2018), soon to be updated to align with the Global Biodiversity Framework, showed that most biodiversity expenditure is by government, totalling eleven billion South African Rand in 2016, up from five billion in 2009. Since 2009, this has represented a stable portion of the national zero comma 9 and one percent. Despite this significant public investment, the biodiversity funding gap persists.

South Africa like many other countries is facing a proliferation of Flora and Fauna and pillaging of our marine resources. These challenges are exacerbated by well-resourced illicit trade of wildlife. Whilst we allocate public resources to mitigate these risks they are not enough to deal with the power and might of international syndicates.

This is where the transformative work of BIOFIN becomes essential.

Through the BIOFIN programme, South Africa has strengthened the financial sustainability of conservation efforts. We have introduced a new framework to set fair and effective fees for biodiversity permits, ensuring beneficiaries contribute to resource protection. Recent increases in permit fees, with further adjustments planned, support this aim. We have also collaborated with municipalities to provide property rate relief to conservation areas, enabling savings to be reinvested in biodiversity protection.

South Africa is also leading in the use of digital technologies to raise funds for biodiversity finance. We are finalising a public biodiversity offset portal and have developed an offset banking model, allowing companies-such as those in renewable energy-to directly fund the management of protected areas, thus encouraging private sector involvement. Our Biodiversity Sector Investment Portal, launched in 2022, now serves as a vital platform for investment opportunities, especially for small businesses in the biodiversity economy. We are committed to expanding this portal to drive sustainable growth and conservation.

For South Africa, biodiversity is inextricably linked to the economy. This extraordinary natural capital underpins critical sectors. Pre-Covid, tourism contributed twenty-seven billion south African rands to our GDP and supported over ninety thousand jobs. The fundamental question is not whether we can afford to protect biodiversity, but whether we can afford not to. The World Economic Forum estimates that forty-four trillion united states dollars-over half the world's GDP-depends moderately or highly on nature and its services.

South Africa stands as a microcosm of both the global challenge and its potential solutions. As one of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries, we are endowed with immense natural wealth yet face unprecedented threats.

The urgency of now cannot be overstated. The planet’s biodiversity faces unprecedented challenges, with ecological systems that have sustained human civilisation for millennia now under threat. Yet today, I speak not of despair, but of transformation-of how we can pivot from biodiversity loss to biodiversity wealth. This natural wealth is not only an ecological treasure but also underpins livelihoods, water security, cultural heritage, and climate resilience for millions of South Africans.

Delegates, the world must shift from viewing biodiversity as a burden to recognising it as wealth. The most profound shift underway is the reconceptualisation of biodiversity from a conservation burden to an investable asset class, contributing to our natural wealth. Given the global economic situation, partnerships for developing countries and shifts in international architecture must reflect current geopolitical realities.

South Africa and its people are committed to saving biodiversity. We stand ready to share our experiences and learn from others. We are committed to meeting national and international biodiversity and climate goals. These are not just environmental commitments, but economic investments in South Africa's future prosperity.

For donors and international partners, supporting South Africa offers:

• High-impact returns: Investments contribute to resilient economies, enhanced social cohesion, and reduced future humanitarian costs.

• Climate and nature leadership: Supporting African-driven climate and biodiversity action strengthens global efforts to meet Paris Agreement and GBF targets.

• Green economy opportunities: Accelerating clean energy, nature-based enterprises, and sustainable finance creates new markets and job growth aligned with Africa’s demographic dividend.

• Stability and security: Investing in inclusive, nature-positive development reduces the risks of displacement, food insecurity, and climate-driven conflict.

South Africa’s ambitions set a replicable model for the region, driving Africa’s leadership in climate and biodiversity action. Donor support will help leverage national ownership, unlock co-financing, foster innovation-especially with AI and green technologies-and accelerate collective progress toward Agenda 2063 and the SDGs

Biodiversity as Our Shared Wealth  
Colleagues, the path from biodiversity loss to biodiversity wealth requires a new perspective. The ecosystems we have treated as expendable are, in fact, our greatest economic assets. Investing in biodiversity means investing in water security, food security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods-the very foundation of human welfare.

Let this conference mark a turning point: from lamenting our losses to building our gains. Biodiversity is not a luxury we cannot afford, but a wealth we cannot afford to lose. The time for incremental change has passed. The finance gap is too large, and the ecological clock ticks too loudly. But within this challenge lies unprecedented opportunity-to create economies that not only sustain nature, but are sustained by it. South Africa is committed to this journey. We invite you to join us-from biodiversity loss to biodiversity wealth.

In conclusion, South Africa has assumed the Presidency of the G20, where solidarity, equality, and sustainability are core principles. We will use this platform to advance the sustainable finance agenda, encompassing environmental issues.

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