Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit 2025: Guyana, Yale University ink landmark MoU to advance biodiversity science, technology

…Pres Ali says country provides over $15.2B in ecosystem services annually

The Guyana Government is embarking on a landmark collaboration with US-based Yale University to enhance biodiversity research here, with a focus on advancing science, data and technology.

President Irfaan Ali made this announcement on Wednesday during his address at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit 2025 being held in Georgetown from July 23 to 25.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reflecting this partnership was signed by Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President, Abena Moore, and Managing Director at the Yale Centre for Biodiversity and Global Change, Dr Alexander Killion, on Wednesday during Day One of the summit being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) at Liliendaal.
The Head of State pointed out that this agreement is the beginning of a strategic and long-term collaboration between Guyana and the Yale Centre for Biodiversity and Global Change.
“Under this agreement, Yale – through Map of Life, their global biodiversity intelligence platform – will work with Guyana to support our leadership in the Global Biodiversity Alliance; help us design a world-class International Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity Research right here in Guyana; build a national biodiversity information system, with maps, dashboards, and data layers; and guide the application of cutting-edge biodiversity science to decision-making, including for our 30×30 commitment,” Ali stated.
With Guyana looking to rally and lead global efforts to preserve and protect the world’s diminishing biodiversity resources, President Ali says this partnership with Yale University opens up opportunities for networking with stakeholders.
“Yale brings not only its world-class expertise but also a network of partners, including the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, Map of Life, and the broader Sea-GEO community. This is a monumental step forward not just for Guyana but for South-South and North-South collaboration in biodiversity science. We are building the global biodiversity knowledge infrastructure, from the ground up and from Guyana out,” the Guyanese leader posited.
The Yale Centre for Biodiversity and Global Change is a research centre at Yale University dedicated to studying and understanding the patterns, drivers, and consequences of biodiversity change on a global scale.
The inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit is a strategic two-day event that brings together world leaders, biodiversity experts, key stakeholders from various sectors, and the local community in Guyana to have tough conversations on biodiversity preservation.
President Ali says this summit is a call to arms – a rallying cry to Governments, institutions, investors, communities, and citizens to recognise that biodiversity is the infrastructure of life, measuring biodiversity is the foundation of meaningful action, and investing in biodiversity is not a luxury but a necessity.
He pointed out that biodiversity is under siege globally, with an estimated 10 million hectares of forest loss annually, one million species facing extinction and wetlands vanishing three times faster than forests.
In contrast, with over 85 per cent of its landmass still heavily forested, Guyana is home to more than 1,200 species of birds, approximately 225 species of mammals and nearly 8,000 species of plants. These, coupled with the country’s mighty rivers and unbroken canopy, have positioned Guyana as a sanctuary of botanical wonder, reinforcing the integrity of its ecosystems.
In fact, while emphasising the importance of nature to the earth’s survival, President Ali disclosed that Guyana’s rich ecosystems have an estimated value of more than $15.2 billion per year.
This rigorous and credible evidence of Guyana’s biodiversity worth was determined through ground-breaking valuation work done by McKinsey & Company along with Conservation International.
“Their analysis tells us that Guyana’s ecosystems provide over $15.2 billion per year in ecosystem services. An overwhelming 96 per cent of that value comes from non-market services—those invisible benefits we all rely on but never pay for.

Genetic resources alone, from plant compounds with medicinal potential to unique species traits, are worth $8.4 billion annually. Existence and bequest values, what our people are willing to pay to preserve nature, amount to $3.6 billion per year. Think about that,” Ali posited.
According to the Head of State, Guyana’s standing forest is providing more economic value than it would have if destroyed. Despite this intrinsic value, however, Ali outlined that biodiversity still remains grossly underfunded.
“Today, we invest just $200 billion per year in nature. But to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework targets, we need at least $700 billion annually. That means we must more than triple global finance for nature.  And we must ensure that this finance flows to where it is most needed – especially in the Global South,” he stated.
To this end, President Ali is hoping that this lack of funding is something that can be addressed at the ongoing Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit in Georgetown.
“The Global Biodiversity Alliance will prioritise this. We are committed to scaling blended finance to de-risk investment in nature-based enterprises; piloting biodiversity credits that reward stewardship; expanding debt-for-nature swaps, modelled on our own experience, and supporting community-driven finance models that place Indigenous leadership at the centre,” he noted.
The Guyanese leader added “implications for development banks, asset managers, impact investors, and router wealth funds to Condition 1. Speak & Act. Because financing nature is not charity—it is insurance. It is resilience. It is return on investment.”
Guyana has already secured a spot at the roundtable later this year at COP30, which is being held in neighbouring Brazil and where the outcomes of the inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit will be presented to advance work and mobilise funding.
In fact, President Ali revealed that only on Tuesday he had “fruitful discussions” with the Chair of the business end of COP – the private sector arm of COP30.
Today, President of COP, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, will be in Georgetown to deliver remarks at Day Two of the summit, focusing on the Road to Belém and exploring how international cooperation, through platforms like the Global Biodiversity Alliance, can accelerate momentum, overcome challenges, and align efforts with the upcoming UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP).