Each Party to a legally binding-instrument (CMS and Agreements) is required to financially contribute to the budget adopted by the decision-making body.

CMS

Parties contribute to the budget in accordance with the UN scale of assessment as agreed by the UN General Assembly adjusted to take account of the membership of CMS. The UN Scale of Assessment assigns to each country the share it has to contribute to the UN budget; the Scale is adjusted in the case of CMS to take account of the fact that not all countries have joined the Convention.

Agreements

Some Agreements also use the UN scale of assessment as a model while others developed their own guidelines and methods to determine each Party’s contribution. These schemes sometimes set a minimum contribution or a single amount that all Parties must meet, while others developed their own formula.