From global biodiversity commitments to local action: revenue potential and allocation dynamics of the Cali Fund

Biodiversity loss around the world is rapidly accelerating. At the same time, financing for conservation efforts falls far short of what is needed, with an estimated annual gap of US$700 billion. Currently, the private sector contributes only around 10% of finance for conservation. Yet pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agriculture and information technology companies increasingly profit from the digital genetic data derived from biological organisms (digital sequence information or ‘DSI’), freely available in public databases. This open architecture, while essential for scientific progress, has allowed companies to benefit from the genetic heritage of biodiversity-rich countries, without any obligation on them to share the financial returns.

The Cali Fund, established at the UN biodiversity summit (Conference of the Parties [COP] 16) in October 2024, is the first attempt to address this. It calls on private companies benefiting from digital genetic data to contribute 1% of their profits or 0.1% of their revenues to channel resources to biodiversity-rich countries and Indigenous communities for conservation. Currently, participation in the fund is voluntary. Its contribution rules and allocation formula are open for revision at COP17 in October 2026.

This paper provides the first global, firm-level analysis of what the Cali Fund is likely to raise and how resources would be distributed, while its design is still being negotiated. The paper highlights how the fund’s three allocation criteria – biodiversity richness, geographic origin of genetic resources and capacity needs – point in different directions and may have unintended consequences. Choices that may seem technical have consequences on distribution that can determine whether the fund achieves its purpose.

DOI: 10.21953/researchonline.lse.ac.uk.00138657