UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged "significant investment" in a fund created to safeguard Earth's biodiversity as he addressed delegates via video during the opening ceremony of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia.

"We must leave Cali with significant investment in the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) and commitments to mobilize other sources of public and private finance," the secretary-general said.

The GBFF was created last year to help countries achieve the goals of the so-called Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in Canada in 2022, with 23 targets to "halt and reverse" the loss of nature by 2030.

So far, countries have made about $250 million in commitments to the fund, according to agencies monitoring progress.

The fund is part of a broader agreement made in Montreal two years ago for countries to mobilize at least $200 billion per year by 2030 for biodiversity, including $20 billion per year by 2025 from rich nations to help the developing world.

Guterres highlighted that destroying nature increases conflict, hunger and disease, fuels poverty, and slashes GDP.

"A collapse in nature's services, such as pollination and clean water, would see the global economy lose trillions of dollars a year, with the poorest hardest hit," he said.

Avoiding such a future would entail countries "honoring promises on finance and accelerating support to developing countries," Guterres said.

"Those profiting from nature must contribute to its protection and restoration," he added.

About 12,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries were due to attend the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) from October 21 to November 1 in Cali, Colombia.

(With input from AFP)