Governments Agree on Global Strategy to Finance Biodiversity Protection and Restoration

At the resumed COP16 negotiations in Rome on February 27 governments adopted the first global strategy to finance biodiversity. Despite accelerating biodiversity loss, current funding remains inadequate to protect and restore nature. United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) said this strategy marks a significant step toward closing the $700 billion annual biodiversity funding gap.

The newly adopted strategy provides a framework to mobilize finance through mechanisms including public funding, private sector contributions–mentioned 19 times in the final document, philanthropic resources, multilateral development banks, and blended finance approaches. It emphasizes the inclusion of indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and youth in decision-making processes while aligning with the three Rio Conventions to enhance synergies in global environmental governance.

It outlines key commitments for governments and financial institutions to:

• Increase biodiversity-related international financial flows to developing countries, targeting at least $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.
• Mobilize at least $200 billion annually by 2030 from domestic, international, public, and private sources to scale up positive incentives for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
• Phase out or reform subsidies harmful to biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year by 2030 (GBF Target 18).

Three priority actions for financial institutions include:

1. Strengthen Environmental and Social Safeguards: Develop standard methods, principles, and guidelines for tracking, reporting, and disclosing biodiversity investments and impacts. This includes frameworks such as biodiversity credits and emerging disclosure standards.
2. Scale Up Biodiversity Investments: Expand investments through impact funds, blended finance, and public-private partnerships to drive financial flows towards nature-positive solutions.
3. Enhance Transparency and Disclosure: Regularly assess and disclose risks, dependencies, and impacts on biodiversity through nature-related disclosure frameworks and reporting standards.

UNEP FI works closely with financial institutions to support the implementation of the new biodiversity finance strategy and ensure alignment with the GBF. This includes:

• Providing guidance on environmental and social safeguards.
• Standardizing biodiversity finance tracking and reporting.
• Promoting blended finance and impact investing.
• Encouraging financial institutions to integrate biodiversity risks and opportunities into their operations and business strategy.

“The results of this meeting show that multilateralism works and is the vehicle to build the partnerships needed to protect biodiversity and move us towards Peace with Nature,” said Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Beyond its immediate impact, UNEPFI said this milestone sets a precedent for major environmental negotiations in 2025, including UNFCCC COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and the ongoing talks for a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. It also carries significant implications for financial institutions, reinforcing expectations for the financial sector to align investments with biodiversity goals, scale up nature-positive financing, integrate biodiversity risks into decision-making, and enhance transparency in tracking financial flows toward conservation and restoration.

This announcement follows the launch of the Cali Fund for Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from Digital Sequence Information (DSI), which will receive contributions from private sector companies that use DSI commercially. The fund represents a breakthrough in biodiversity finance, requiring industries benefiting from genetic resource data to contribute a share of their revenue or profits to conservation efforts.

“As a leading global bank, we recognize the need to support the mobilization of resources towards nature conservation, restoration, and sustainable use,” said Camille Maclet, Head of Natural Capital and Biodiversity at BNP Paribas Group. “We have integrated biodiversity considerations into our financing and investment policies and actively engage with clients to encourage sustainable financial practices. Through the BNP Paribas Foundation’s Climate and Biodiversity Initiative, we also support research on nature conservation and climate change adaptation.”