Big pharma accused of ‘free-riding on nature’ as global fund attracts just $7,000

The Cali Fund, set up to channel money from businesses that profit from genetic resources into biodiversity conservation, has attracted only $7,085 in deposits, despite aiming to raise $1bn a year. The shortfall has drawn criticism of major pharmaceutical companies, which have made no contributions, and is renewing debate over how to fund conservation in lower-income countries.

The fund launched in February 2025 and had received commitments of $10,656 by the start of the Cop17 biodiversity summit in Armenia. An analysis by Zero Carbon Analytics estimated the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies could have contributed $756m based on voluntary guidelines of 1% of profits or 0.1% of revenue; together, they made about $161bn in profits in 2025. So far, the fund’s three private-sector contributions have come from small companies, while pharmaceutical firms argue the suggested contributions are too broad and overlap with existing laws.