Our Letter to the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
At the 30th UN Climate Change COP in Belém, TierraViva became the first company to contribute to the UN Cali Fund under the Convention on Biological Diversity. In the letter accompanying our contribution, we explain why businesses that benefit from digital sequence information must help ensure the Fund’s success:
“Dear Executive Secretary,
I am writing in connection with our contribution to the United Nations Cali Fund. TierraViva AI is a new start-up company that is committed to using AI to promote biodiversity-based innovation and local solutions to global environmental challenges. We use digital sequence information from public databases as part of our operations.
As a small company, TierraViva AI does not meet the contribution threshold for large firms established by COP16 of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. As an expression of our commitment to the objectives of the Cali Fund, I am pleased to inform you that we have made an initial contribution of US$1,000 and we undertake to make further contributions to the Cali Fund as our business grows.
We are making this contribution because every company in the world depends on biodiversity – it is the ultimate, overlooked employee. For decades, its vital work has gone unrecognized, with no annual increment, no pension and no protection from redundancy. Only when vital systems begin to break do we remember this hard-working and long-forgotten worker.
Responsible businesses recognize that this must change. Companies that benefit from digital sequence information - the fabric of life itself - have been invited to voluntarily contribute an indicative 0.1% of revenue or 1% of profit to the Cali Fund, supporting biodiversity conservation in developing countries and Indigenous Peoples and local communities who are its stewards. In the UK and elsewhere, employers typically grant annual salary increments. It is time to put the world’s forgotten employee back on the payroll by paying the biodiversity increment.
Businesses large and small face many challenges and will want confidence that the contributions they make will support direct action on the ground with tangible results, notably through support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The programme of work of the new CBD Subsidiary Body on traditional knowledge reflects the agreed priorities of Parties and Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and offers useful guidance for company contributions. In implementation, the United Nations Development Programme has over 30 years of experience in operating the Small Grants Programme in collaboration with governments, Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world. This experience is likely to be invaluable in ensuring that company contributions support practical action and that outcomes are transparently reported in accordance with accounting and related standards companies themselves must meet.
It is also clear that further work in clarifying and refining the new mechanism is desirable. Companies in sectors that are particularly dependent on direct access to genetic resources and digital sequence information are concerned about issues including: legal certainty, obligation stacking, the need for a level playing field and positive incentives for companies to contribute. The recently established Friends of the Cali Fund provides an important forum for constructive conversations with governments to address company concerns. However, these concerns must be a catalyst for action, with a growing number of businesses recognizing the central role of learning by doing.
We feel confident that in the near future major companies from a number of sectors will take the lead in making substantive contributions to operationalizing the Cali Fund. As a small company we are proud to be an early contributor. In making this contribution we would emphasize that there are currently no transparent international mechanisms through which companies benefitting from genetic resources and digital sequence information can make direct contributions to conservation and to supporting Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The Cali Fund provides a major opportunity for companies large and small to contribute to the protection of the planet that we all call home. We hope that many more companies will join us in showing leadership by making contributions and paying the biodiversity increment. TierraViva AI looks forward to making additional and substantive contributions in the future.
Yours Sincerely,
Paul Oldham (PhD)
Chief Executive Officer
TierraViva AI“