What we do

Nearly half of global GDP - around US$44 trillion in value added - depends on nature and its essential services, including clean water, fertile soils, pollination, climate regulation and disaster protection. Yet financial flows still work against nature: in 2023, an estimated US$7.3 trillion supported activities that harm ecosystems, compared with about US$220 billion for nature-based solutions. The answer is not only to spend more, but to make public spending, incentives and investment work better for nature and people.

For Armenia, healthy forests, grasslands, wetlands and freshwater ecosystems are central to water security, agriculture, climate resilience, tourism and rural livelihoods. 

Supported by the Global Environment Facility, UNDP works with the Ministries of Environment, Finance and other national partners to develop Armenia’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan - a practical, nationally owned roadmap to align public expenditure, incentives, private investment and international support with biodiversity priorities.

Objective

The UNDP BIOFIN Project supports the Government of Armenia to strengthen the national biodiversity finance architecture: to identify and address financing gaps, mobilize and better align resources, improve the effectiveness of existing expenditure, and develop Armenia’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan.

The Plan will serve as a practical, nationally owned pathway for translating biodiversity priorities into financeable action - connecting public policy, budgeting, incentives, private investment and international support. In doing so, the project advances Armenia’s implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and helps establish the long-term financial foundations for delivering national biodiversity commitments. 

Complementing this work, Biodiversity Budget Tagging will enable government institutions to systematically identify, track and analyze biodiversity-related expenditure across public budgets, improving transparency, more informed resource allocation and accountability for results.

Results so far

BIOFIN Armenia has developed the three core national assessments that provide the evidence base for the country’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan.

Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) examines Armenia’s policies, laws, institutions and financing mechanisms relevant to biodiversity. It identifies opportunities to strengthen coordination, improve financing arrangements and align public incentives with biodiversity objectives. The Subsidies Analysis assessed 24 state-support programmes— primarily in agriculture, alongside selected measures in environmental, energy, infrastructure, transport and mining sectors—to understand their potential biodiversity impacts. It provides an evidence base for constructive policy dialogue on how public support can be progressively aligned with biodiversity and sustainability objectives, in line with Global Biodiversity Framework Target 18.

Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) provides Armenia’s first systematic picture of biodiversity-related expenditure across public institutions and sectors. It identifies spending trends, gaps in classification and tracking, and opportunities to better link expenditure with biodiversity results. Biodiversity-related public expenditure increased from US$31.2 million in 2021 to US$94 million in 2025.

Financial Needs Assessment (FNA) costs the actions needed to deliver national biodiversity priorities for 2026-2030. It provides a structured basis for understanding financing needs, prioritizing action and identifying where new resources, improved allocation and more effective delivery are required.

Results under development

Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP)

Through BIOFIN, UNDP supports the Government of Armenia to develop country’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan - the central product of the BIOFIN process. It will translate the project’s evidence into a nationally owned action and investment agenda, helping ensure that Armenia’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is financially capable of being delivered.

As a key enabling action under Target 19 of the KMGBF, the BFP will provide a practical framework for financing Armenia’s biodiversity priorities. It will identify and prioritize the finance solutions with the strongest potential to mobilize new resources, improve the effectiveness of existing expenditure, and redirect or reform financial flows that may harm biodiversity.

BFP’s value will lie in creating a common direction for government, development partners, financial institutions and business - guiding budget and policy reforms, enabling the preparation of bankable investment and project proposals, and helping direct domestic, international and private resources towards measurable biodiversity results.

Biodiversity Budget Tagging (BBT)

The BBT component will develop and pilot a mechanism for systematically identifying and tracking biodiversity-related expenditure in public budgets. It will give government institutions better visibility of where resources are directed, support more informed budget decisions, and strengthen transparency and accountability for improved visibility of biodiversity expenditure, stronger evidence for decision-making, better alignment of public resources, as well as enhanced transparency and accountability.

Through the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), countries are identifying practical finance solutions for nature. Since 2018, BIOFIN-supported efforts have contributed to more than 90 policy results and mobilized over US$3.3 billion for biodiversity by implementing more than 200 finance solutions worldwide.

Today, 138 countries are part of the BIOFIN partnership, working at different stages of developing and implementing Biodiversity Finance Plans.

By 2030, BIOFIN aims to help unlock more than US$10 billion for nature, directly contributing to the achievement of Targets 18 and 19 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework through measures that generate new revenues, improve public spending, and attract investment for biodiversity. 

For more information on BIOFIN Armenia – visit BIOFIN Official Web Page