On Thursday, Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the US made commitments to increase financial aid to help low-income countries conserve ecosystems. Earlier France, Germany, the European Union (EU), the UK, and Canada all increased their aid commitments.

The European High Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius called these new commitments as an extremely important step forward while Claire Blanchard, Head of Global Advocacy of the the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said the new and existing commitments demonstrate the politics needed at COP15.

Dozens of developing countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia and African countries seek more ambitious funding of 100 billion USD per year or 1% of global GDP from rich countries by 2030 against the current level of 10 billion USD a year.

Developing countries also want a new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to help them achieve their goals, such as the establishment of conservation areas. But the call is rejected by developed countries, who propose making existing financial mechanisms more accessible.

Participants at the COP15 from Dec.7-19 target to reach a 10-year framework agreement towards protecting forests, oceans and living things around the planet.