LocationsShaping the vision for Nature ID as Digital Public Infrastructure
Diverse voices and shared objectives
May 30, 2025
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Manpichkai (center), President of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance at UNCCD COP16
IISD/ENB | Anastasia Rodopoulou
In recent years, digital identities, digital payments, and data exchange systems - collectively referred to as foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) - have been instrumental in rapidly scaling access to essential public services around the world, from India to Malawi to Brazil. How might new DPIs scale action to address the growing climate crisis and escalating destruction of the natural world?
To explore this question, UNDP and partners including The Rockefeller Foundation, Co-Develop, World Bank, USAID, Digital Impact Alliance and GIZ, convened a series of stakeholder consultations and public events over the past year as part of the ‘DPI for Planet’ initiative. Speakers and participants included ministers and policymakers from various countries, Indigenous leaders, representatives from the private sector and civil society.
These conversations have shaped the ‘The Case for Nature ID: How Digital Public Infrastructure Can Catalyze Climate and Nature Action’ study and helped clarify how this new type of DPI could make the value of complex ecosystems more visible in decision-making, give countries and local communities much greater access to green finance, transform agro-industrial value chain traceability and also help safeguard the rights of farmers and Indigenous Peoples.
Five key insights from stakeholder engagement
1. DPI can be an enabler for nature-positive incentives and climate finance
Stakeholders were unanimous in emphasising the value of increasing the accessibility and interoperability of environmental data. At the DPI for a Green Transition workshop held in June last year, participants underscored how unlocking access to biodiversity finance requires harmonized and trusted data systems. Case studies presented by the governments of Ecuador and Côte d'Ivoire illustrated how digital systems can integrate environmental data to inform decision-making and ensure accountability in green finance and carbon markets.
Participants envisioned Nature ID as a system that could support financing mechanisms such as biodiversity credits and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). They also emphasized that for these solutions to be viable, legal clarity, governance frameworks, and interoperability must be prioritised.
H.E. Madalistso Kambauwa Wirima, Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Republic of Malawi, speaking at the Nature ID roundtable hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation in New York during UNGA24.
Photo: The Rockefeller Foundation
2. There is a need for inclusive governance and safeguarding of Indigenous rights
At the Case for Nature ID roundtable held on the sidelines of the Summit of the Future in New York in September, participants stressed that Indigenous Peoples and local communities must retain sovereignty over any data related to their traditional lands that would be needed to make Nature ID useful. Indigenous leaders shared concerns about the commodification of nature and the need to ensure that digital tools reflect ecological, spiritual, and social dimensions of natural assets. Hugo Jabini, Spokesperson for the Saamak, highlighted how Nature ID could integrate scientific knowledge with Indigenous ecological expertise:
"Indigenous Peoples have managed to protect their territories and deeply understand local biodiversity and water resources. Combining scientific knowledge with Indigenous Peoples' knowledge of their territories can help us understand the value of nature and drive impacts we want to see on the ground."
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Manpichkai, President of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, said:
"If we don't use [technology] correctly, it is very dangerous for us. But if we use it properly, it can be used for our collective future. For [Nature ID] to work, it must consider the wisdom of nature, and Indigenous Peoples, and help permanently protect nature."
3. Technical feasibility and understanding the value of Nature ID within key stakeholders may be challenges to be addressed
At the COP16 roundtable in Colombia, discussions focused on how a Nature ID system could work in practice as well as its relevance to the private sector and civil society. A key challenge is ensuring that companies comply with new regulations without greenwashing. Anastasia Thatcher Marceau, Managing Director of Accenture Development Partnerships, noted:
"There is a critical gap between companies' understanding of how their business depends on nature, and the level of risk disclosure… A new platform could help companies take action, make new investments, innovate, and support the reporting and disclosure that they need to do."
Experts from Yale University and The Landbanking Group explained how Nature ID could support biodiversity reporting and corporate accountability.
Left to Right: Nkwī Flores (Founder, Kinray Hub - Indigenous-led environmental think tank), Reina Otsuka (Global Lead, Digital for Nature and Climate, UNDP), Esther Netshivhongweni (Chair of Communities Advisory Panel, Biodiversity Credit Alliance), Walter Jetz (Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University), Ida Hallmark (Senior Advisor, NORAD), Midori Paxton (Nature Hub Director, UNDP), Anastasia Thatcher (Managing Director, Accenture Development Partnerships), Felipe Villela (Head of Latin America, The Landbanking Group) and Hugo Jabini (Spokesperson for the Saamak)
Photo: UNDP
4. Moving from concept to action: cross-border governance challenges
At a roundtable at COP29 in Azerbaijan, discussions focused on implementation challenges, particularly in relation to cross-border governance and data interoperability. Government officials from Brazil, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Germany noted that environmental data systems must be designed to navigate legal and institutional barriers. Speakers from Brazil and Costa Rica shared lessons from their digital land registry and nature finance initiatives, underlining the value of aligning Nature ID with existing initiatives rather than reinventing the wheel.
Henrique Dolabella, Director with Brazil’s Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services, said:
"Starting from our efforts to preserve native vegetation, our challenge is now to design a DPI architecture that can serve to gather and connect data from different places. Nature ID could be very close to this concept."
(L-R): Henrique Dolabella (Head of Rural Environmental Registry, Government of Brazil), Ynsa Traore (Technical Advisor, Government of Côte d’Ivoire), Sahar Albazar (Member of Parliament, Egypt), Akanksha Sharma (Head of Climate Tech, GSMA), Bjorn-Soren Gigler (Head of Digital and Green Twin Transition, GIZ Germany) and Reina Otsuka (Digital Lead for Climate and Nature, UNDP) speak at a roundtable on Nature ID at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024.
Photo: UNDP
5. Looking ahead: we must prioritize trust and public value
The stakeholder consultations highlighted the importance of a few guiding principles for the development of Nature ID:
Trust-building is key – Indigenous and local communities have to be involved in co-designing Nature ID.
Governance is foundational – Nature ID must ensure that environmental data remains a public asset, while safeguarding Indigenous rights and recognizing community governance frameworks.
Legal clarity and policy alignment are critical – strong legal foundations were critical enablers for similar initiatives, including digital environmental registries.
Read the Nature ID study here.
