Investment bank, biodiversity museum in cards – Pres Ali says “Work now begins”

…as inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit talks wrap up

Talks of an investment bank and a biodiversity museum are among some of the ideas coming out of the inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit 2025 that was held in Guyana over the last two days.

The three-day event would have brought together world leaders, biodiversity experts, key players from various sectors, and local stakeholders in Guyana to have tough conversations on biodiversity preservation.
Delivering closing remarks on Thursday evening at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), President Irfaan Ali said the work now begins to holistically address biodiversity loss across the world and finance a nature-positive future.
“The work begins now. Let this stand as a bold signal of Guyana’s unwavering commitment to nature, climate, and our shared future,” the Head of State posited.
Following the opening of the summit on Wednesday, the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) was formally launched with 15 signatories under the Georgetown Declaration – a shared commitment to strengthen global action for the protection, restoration, and sustainable use of the planet’s biodiversity.
Key highlights from the summit include the unveiling of the 2030 Action Plan that outlines a shared growth map surrounding five strategic pillars, including achieving the 30 by 30 Biodiversity Goal, that is, protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and sea by 2030.
Another pillar is unlocking innovative financing, green bonds, biodiversity credits, and debt swaps. According to President Ali, “We have had such good coverage of this conference that we already have some suggestions… We’ve already had some initial discussions on the possibility of an investment bank.”
Other outcomes of the inaugural GBA summit include the establishment of a fully standardised, border-to-border national biodiversity monitoring system by 2030 – a first of its kind globally that will support the effective valuation of Guyana’s biodiversity assets.
“Guyana is taking a bold step in being the first globally to adopt such a system – the development of the National Biodiversity Information System to serve as a digital backbone for conservation finance and policy,” the Head of State noted.
The National Biodiversity Information System (NBIS) will collect and analyse data on the country’s plants, animals, and ecosystems and help guide decisions and policies that support sustainable development and conservation.
According to President Ali, this initiative shows Guyana’s commitment to protecting the environment and will create a new global standard for biodiversity accountability at the national level.
“Building on the foundations of Guyana’s successful leadership in carbon finance, the country is moving into the era of biodiversity finance, rooted in transparency, science, and sovereignty. At the heart of this initiative is the National Biodiversity Information System… A robust digital infrastructure that will unify biodiversity data collection, analysis, and decision-making across Guyana,” he noted.
This strategy will be developed and led by an inter-agency coalition of Government, local and indigenous peoples, academic institutions, and non-Governmental organisations (NGOs), building on decades of Guyanese-led conservation.
In fact, Guyana will be working directly with Yale University with support from the European Union (EU) to push this initiative. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was already signed between Guyana and Yale’s Centre for Biodiversity and Global Change on Wednesday for this collaboration.
Stakeholders also agreed, during the summit, on the establishment of an International Biodiversity Research Consortium to be anchored in Guyana, which will also be the seat of the GBA, with a technical secretariat to be established in Georgetown. Additionally, a Centre of Excellence is also in the cards.
“We’re also hoping that we can have our own museum because we have enough history and enough of an ecosystem to support such a museum and the development of an intensive park to showcase in one area the richness of our biodiversity.”
“So, the Alliance has moved from vision to action through collective leadership, shared knowledge, and inclusive stewardship. We now have a bold, yet practical path to halt biodiversity loss and finance a nature-positive future. This summit marks not just a declaration but a turning point for our planet,” the Guyanese leader stressed.
Now that the Alliance is fully established and the inaugural summit completed, the focus will move to finalising a comprehensive paper capturing the summit’s key outcomes, findings, and international agreements that will be formally presented at COP30 in Brazil later this year and at the United Nations General Assembly in September with the aim of placing biodiversity at the top of the global agenda.
In fact, COP30 President Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago was among the global leaders who were in Georgetown for the Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit 2025.
At the upcoming COP30 in Belem, Brazil, the Global Biodiversity Alliance will be seeking to have at least 140 countries and organisations, including NGOs and private sector representatives, sign onto the Georgetown Declaration.
On the final day of the event, July 25, participants of the Summit are expected to engage in field visits to either a Mahaica River Tour or the Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve.