While the Global Review will provide important insights into implementation efforts, many of the structural drivers of biodiversity loss and barriers to implementation remain insufficiently addressed. Issues such as sovereign debt burdens, austerity measures, unequal financial and economic structures, and harmful public and private financial flows continue to shape countries' ability to meet biodiversity commitments, yet are often absent from biodiversity policy discussions.

In response, civil society organizations have produced a report highlighting these overlooked issues: the "elephants in the room" that are missing from the global review process. The report also examines emerging approaches that seek to bypass these underlying causes through what civil society identifies as "false solutions", including biodiversity offsets, debt-for-nature swaps, private finance mechanisms, and blended finance approaches that are increasingly promoted to address the so-called biodiversity funding gap.

This side event will present and discuss the findings and recommendations of the report. Through an exchange with participants, the event will explore how principles of equity, justice, and common but differentiated responsibilities can help reorient implementation of the KMGBF towards measures that genuinely address the root causes of biodiversity loss.

The discussion aims to contribute to a more transformative and equitable global review process capable of identifying the systemic changes needed to achieve the objectives of the Convention and the KMGBF.

Participating organizations: Third World Network (TWN), Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), Rainforest Action Network (RAN), and the University of British Columbia (UBC).