Fiji’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Bulitavu, and Lead Negotiator Dr. Sivendra Michael have reaffirmed the nation’s leadership in global biodiversity negotiations following a high-level meeting with CBD COP President, Colombian Minister Susana Muhamad.

The discussions, held ahead of the resumed COP-16 sessions in Rome this month, focused on securing ambitious and fast-tracked financial commitments to protect global ecosystems.

Fiji emphasized the critical need for scaled-up and accessible financing for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which are on the frontlines of climate change and biodiversity loss. The talks centered around Document L.34 on resource mobilization, a key unresolved issue from COP-16’s suspension in Cali, Colombia, last October.

Minister Bulitavu stressed that biodiversity financing is a matter of survival for SIDS, linking it to food security, economic resilience, and cultural identity.

“For Pacific SIDS, biodiversity is more than conservation—it is survival. If we fail to mobilize resources at the scale and speed required, we risk losing not just ecosystems, but entire ways of life,” Bulitavu said.

Fiji also reiterated its support for the establishment of a dedicated biodiversity fund by 2030 but emphasized the need for it to complement existing frameworks, such as the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), rather than duplicating them.

As COP-16.2 reconvenes from February 25-27, Fiji remains firm in advocating for a results-driven process and greater accessibility to funds for developing nations, aiming for an outcome that delivers on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets.