The fund seeks voluntary payments from businesses using genetic data, while its officials say talks in Yerevan will give companies more information to help them make commitments.
The Cali Fund had just $7,085 deposited as biodiversity talks began in Armenia on Monday, against a goal of raising $1 billion a year for nature conservation, the Guardian reported on October 22. No major pharmaceutical company had contributed.
Launched in February 2025, the fund asks businesses that profit from nature’s genetic information to help finance conservation in low-income countries. At least half its money is intended for areas identified as priorities by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
| Funding status | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total committed | $10,656 |
| Of that, actually deposited | $7,085 |
Drug development can draw on genetic information from organisms. Advances in biotechnology mean researchers can use digital sequence information, or DSI—genetic information stored in databases—rather than relying on physical samples. The Cali Fund was designed to address gaps in payments for using nature’s genetic information as research made that shift.
The fund’s guidelines suggest voluntary contributions of 1% of profits or 0.1% of revenue. Zero Carbon Analytics estimated that the top 15 pharmaceutical companies could have contributed $756 million based on their 2025 performance if they had followed those guidelines. That figure is a hypothetical contribution estimate, not money pledged or received.
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Guilherme Cintra, director of innovation policy at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, said the industry was committed to biodiversity but questioned the mechanism. He argued that it overlaps with existing law, rests on inaccurate assumptions about how drug developers use data, and seeks a share of total revenue whether or not a medicine was developed using DSI.
Sanofi said it recognised the importance of healthy ecosystems to human health and made protecting nature a core part of its environmental sustainability strategy. GSK said open access to DSI was critical for medical innovation and responses to health emergencies. GSK supports the fund’s intent but said it would decide on a voluntary contribution once it knew more about how the fund would work alongside other national and international arrangements for access to genetic resources and sharing their benefits.
Brian O’Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, argued that expecting voluntary payments was too optimistic and that companies should be compelled to contribute. The fund’s guidelines remain voluntary.
A Cali Fund spokesperson called the amount raised disappointing but not entirely surprising, saying comparable financial instruments had generally taken two to three years before contributions grew. The spokesperson said payments would likely remain modest while the fund’s operating infrastructure was being completed and until it became better known.
The fund is on the agenda at this week’s COP17 biodiversity summit in Yerevan. Its spokesperson said those discussions would give companies more information, enabling them to come forward with commitments.
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