The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will have to address the insufficient progress made in mobilising financial resources for biodiversity and in achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) finance targets 18 and 19.

COP 17’s mandate to tackle the barriers holding back the effectiveness of global biodiversity finance comes at the right time: the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation is currently being negotiated by the UN Member States. It has the potential to address these issues, by curbing illicit financial flows, including by ending tax evasion and tax avoidance; phasing out tax-related environmentally harmful subsidies; and ultimately increasing Domestic Resource Mobilisation for sustainable development.

The deadline for finalising the UN Tax Convention is mid-2027, and the overall objective of the new instrument is to establish ‘an international tax system for sustainable development’. However, both in the follow-up to CBD COP 17 - and in the ongoing UN Tax Convention negotiations - more proactive engagement for integration and mutual reinforcement is required to achieve maximum coherence, synergies and progress.