Policy paper

Friends of the Cali Fund: government joint statement

Published 30 June 2026

We, representatives of governments from across regions, united as the ‘Friends of the Cali Fund’, come together to pledge our collective commitment to promote the effective implementation of the multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism for the use of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources and its fund, the Cali Fund. 

In line with Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 Decision 16/2, we recognise the Cali Fund, in the context of the CBD, as the globally relevant fund for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of DSI.

The multilateral mechanism represents a transformative opportunity to share benefits, improve access globally to DSI and mobilise additional finance from the use of biodiversity with the opportunity to contribute to the overarching objectives of the CBD.

This includes providing targeted support for the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), advancing scientific research, benefiting all Parties, Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), women and youth, and strengthening capacity to generate, access, use, analyse and store DSI in line with identified needs. 

While, in the context of the CBD, we regard the Cali Fund as the globally relevant fund for sharing monetary benefits from the use of DSI, its long-term success hinges on meaningful contributions from companies using DSI in their commercial activities. Achieving this will require trust and collaboration between governments and the private sector, as well as addressing key elements, such as encouraging the alignment of national measures on access to and benefit-sharing from the use of DSI with the multilateral mechanism, to avoid duplication of expectations of benefit sharing and promote mutual supportiveness with other international ABS instruments on DSI to avoid the stacking of obligations and, where appropriate, to streamline processes. This can help to ensure coherence, participation, and reliable financial flows, and can provide the private sector with the necessary legal clarity and certainty required for effective participation in the multilateral system, including in relation to access to and use of DSI. 

We recognise that governments and the private sector from all countries have an important role to play in operationalising the multilateral mechanism and promoting the Cali Fund. We pledge to work in close collaboration with, and in support of, all efforts of the Steering Committee and Secretariat of the multilateral mechanism, CBD Secretariat, as well as all other relevant entities and processes, acting with urgency and ambition to make this mechanism a lasting success.

We commit to:

• promoting the Cali Fund as the globally relevant fund for benefit-sharing from the use of DSI on genetic resources in the context of the CBD, and motivating users from the private sector in all countries to contribute, including through diplomatic channels, relevant bilateral cooperation and multilateral fora

• collaborating with the private sector to foster trust, build capacity, share good practices and address barriers to implementation of the multilateral mechanism and the Cali Fund

• building awareness, momentum and support for the Cali Fund across all relevant sectors and platforms, to making it a success

• providing legal and policy clarity for users of DSI, including by avoiding the duplication of expectations to share benefits from DSI with the multilateral mechanism when covered under national access and benefit-sharing (ABS) measures, as well as the stacking of benefit-sharing obligations across other international instruments, to support effective and efficient benefit-sharing through the multilateral mechanism, including the Cali Fund

• working effectively across relevant multilateral processes under different fora to strongly promote coherence and complementarity between access and benefit-sharing instruments and thus incentivising private sector contributions

We invite all governments who share our commitment to the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of DSI to endorse this statement and join the Friends of the Cali Fund. Together, let us demonstrate leadership in building a coherent, transparent, and effective multilateral mechanism that contributes directly to halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.