Project Summary

The recent “Little Book on Investing in Nature” estimates the global annual biodiversity financing gap at US$700 billion. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Panel of Experts on Resource Mobilization highlighted that implementation of the new biodiversity targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) will require additional financial resources, increased resource efficiency, and a reduction of biodiversity-harmful financial flows. Reducing the biodiversity finance gap can only be achieved through transformative change across economies and society.

To develop a clear picture of how to achieve the targets of the CBD’s GBF, a detailed assessment of the policy
and institutional national context, a biodiversity expenditures review and financial needs are required as well as
development and implementation of finance plans. CBD Parties face the following key barriers to sustainable
financing of nature-positive policies and practices: (a) limited awareness, coordination, and capacity among
national stakeholders to address gaps in biodiversity financing; (b) insufficient knowledge and systematic documentation of expenditure data relevant to biodiversity; (c) lack of systematic measurement and reporting of the negative impacts of finance contributing to biodiversity loss; (d) biodiversity finance needs are imprecisely defined and poorly understood; (e) limited knowledge, use and mainstreaming of country-specific biodiversity finance solutions; and (f) limited exchange and uptake of global best practices in the sustainable financing of biodiversity.

Given the need for a comprehensive and multi-stakeholder strategic approach to resource mobilization, Target 19 requests all countries to develop national biodiversity finance plans (BFPs). These BFPs should assess the root causes of biodiversity loss, identify national biodiversity finance gaps, and articulate strategies on how to reduce the gaps through a suite of finance solutions aimed at reducing flow of resources that cause harm to biodiversity; generating additional resources; and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of resource use. To respond to this need and based on the experience of UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and other relevant methodologies, this project aims to support a global programme that will establish a transformative process for biodiversity finance in all participating eligible countries, involving all relevant stakeholders such as Ministries of Finance and Environment, and the private and financial sectors through a socially and gender-inclusive approach. The project will support countries in baseline diagnostics, capacity and institutional strengthening, and developing finance plans to mobilize resources at scale to implement the GBF.