UK’s David Lammy lauds Pres. Ali’s action on biodiversity preservation

Noting that biodiversity loss is as much a threat as climate change, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, David Lammy has issued a call for stronger political will and more financing to tackle this growing issue.

He made the appeal during a virtual address at the inaugural Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit ongoing in Georgetown.

Guyana has joined several countries and international organisations to sign onto the alliance, which, among other things, aims to develop innovative financing instruments for biodiversity preservation.  Biodiversity loss refers to the decline or disappearance of biological diversity, meaning the variety and variability of life on Earth.

Lammy noted that the “impact of lost biodiverse hotspots is felt from Georgetown to London in the food we eat and the air we breathe.” He noted that means exist to stop and even reverse levels of biodiversity loss but this requires stronger political will and more financing.

“Mobilising more finance with innovations like green bonds and biodiversity credits, strengthening education and research to identify and promote nature-based solutions, and above all, empowering local and indigenous communities, the best custodians of nature there are,” he emphasised.

Lammy noted that the British government has done a lot of work in these areas and is a top contributor to Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which was established in response to decisions from the Convention on Biological Diversity COP15.

The fund was ratified by 186 countries and launched at the Seventh GEF Assembly in Vancouver, Canada in August 2023.

As of June 2025, a total of $386 million has been pledged to the GBFF by 12 sovereign and subnational contributors: Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Province of Québec, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

And according to the UK foreign secretary, “we’re working with the city to get more sustainable finance to developing economies”.

He further emphasised that the UK continues to back innovative research on nature through initiatives like the £24 million Natural Environment Research Council programme launched this year to support ambitious environmental projects.

“This work matters but it can only succeed with sufficient political will,” Lammy emphasised, as he congratulated President Dr Irfaan Ali for launching the Global Biodiversity Alliance.

“…and bringing together such a powerful group of advocates for nature in Guyana…as you know, I cherish my Guyanese heritage,” Lammy said.

Lammy and his wife Nicola Green have founded the Sophia Point Rainforest Research Centre in Guyana, located at River’s View in Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice). It was officially commissioned in November 2024 by President Ali. The centre serves as a hub for research, education, and training aimed at empowering stakeholders in the global fight against climate change.

“My work at Sophia Point is just one way I try to give back to the country of my ancestors but the incredible biodiversity found there is not my inheritance or even the local communities or Guyana’s. It is a gift from past generations to all of humanity – a gift all of us have a duty to preserve so that we too may pass it on to the next generation,” Lammy said.