Pacific island countries unite to launch regional Biodiversity Finance Programme

Pacific Harbour, Fiji, 9 July 2025.  – Government representatives from 15 Pacific Island Countries and Territories have convened this week at The Pearl Resort in Pacific Harbour to officially launch the GEF-8 funded Pacific Biodiversity Finance (BIOFIN) Umbrella Programme, a landmark initiative to strengthen biodiversity financing across the region.

Hosted by the Government of Fiji, the four-day Inception Workshop marks the start of coordinated regional efforts to create an enabling environment that supports the design and implementation of National Biodiversity Finance Plans tailored to Pacific contexts and priorities, strengthens resource mobilization, and embeds gender equality and inclusivity at the core of future finance strategies.

In his opening remarks, Fiji’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Sivendra Michael said: “Biodiversity is not a luxury. It is the foundation of our economies, our food systems, our resilience, and our identity. If we fail to finance it properly, we are not just failing nature—we are failing ourselves.”

“If we do not innovate how we finance biodiversity in the Pacific at the scale, scope, and speed it deserves, we risk losing the very essence of who we are.”

Photo: Fiji’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Sivendra Michael.

Deputy Resident Representative (OIC) of the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, Abduvakkos Abdurahmanov highlighted the importance of regional ownership and local leadership: “This is not just a workshop—it is the start of a new chapter for the Pacific. With BIOFIN, we are working together to unlock financing that reflects the true value of biodiversity. It is about bridging the gap between environmental protection and sustainable development.”

The initiative responds directly to global commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including Convention on Biological Diversity Target 19, which urges countries to substantially increase resource mobilization and align financial flows with nature-positive outcomes.

Just weeks ago, more than 130 countries gathered in Santiago, Chile, for the largest-ever global meeting on biodiversity finance, underscoring that the Pacific is part of a growing worldwide movement to scale nature-positive investments and accelerate delivery of biodiversity targets.

BIOFIN has been implemented in over 40 countries since 2018, resulting in more than 150 finance solutions, including green taxation, incentive-based conservation, and public–private partnerships.

The Global BIOFIN programme is now expanding this proven model into 15 Pacific nations: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, New Zealand (voluntarily), Nauru and Niue. In 2024, 92 new countries, including these 15 Pacific nations, joined BIOFIN under the GEF‑8 Umbrella Programme, increasing the global reach to over 130 countries.

Throughout the workshop, delegates are engaging in technical training, peer learning, and strategic planning to initiate finance assessments, review harmful subsidies, and begin developing long-term, costed biodiversity finance plans. Participants are also reviewing cross-cutting strategies related to gender, Indigenous knowledge, social safeguards, and monitoring frameworks.

This programme will help accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 14 (Life Below Water) and 15 (Life on Land), reinforcing regional commitments to protect and restore Pacific biodiversity.

As the region faces compounding pressures from biodiversity loss, climate change, and fiscal constraints, the Pacific BIOFIN Programme offers a timely and vital step forward laying the foundation for sustainable, locally driven investment in nature and resilience.

The programme is made possible with support from Global Environment Facility, European Union, Flanders State of the Art, the Governments of Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and Canada.

Source: UNDP Pacific Office

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