As countries work to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, one question continues to shape national agendas: how to mobilize the scale of finance needed to protect and restore nature.

A growing part of the answer lies within the Global Environment Facility and specifically, its newest financing window: the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF).

A new fund for a new era of biodiversity action

The GBFF is the latest addition to the GEF family of funds, designed to respond directly to the ambitions of the Global Biodiversity Framework. While the long-established GEF Trust Fund supports a wide range of environmental priorities, from climate change to land degradation, the GBFF takes a more targeted approach.

Its focus is clear: biodiversity.

This shift matters. Biodiversity finance has often been spread across sectors and funding streams. The GBFF offers something different, a dedicated mechanism to “deep dive” into biodiversity challenges, supporting projects that are fully aligned with global targets and national priorities.

How the system works

Accessing GEF financing requires partnership. Countries and institutions do not apply directly to the fund alone, they work through accredited agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization, as well as international financial institutions like the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

These agencies develop and submit project proposals, working closely with governments. At the national level, coordination is led by operational focal points, designated government representatives who ensure that projects align with national priorities and approve submissions.

This dual structure, international agencies and national focal points, ensures both technical quality and country ownership.

From integrated finance to targeted impact

The GEF Trust Fund has long promoted integrated, cross-sectoral solutions. It supports projects that combine biodiversity with climate mitigation, land restoration, and other environmental goals, an approach that reflects the interconnected nature of global challenges.

The GBFF complements this by going deeper. It prioritizes projects that are explicitly aligned with biodiversity targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework, while also encouraging:

• Mobilization of private sector finance
• Partnerships with multilateral development banks
• Strong engagement with Indigenous peoples and local communities

In practice, this creates space for more innovative financing models: blended finance, nature-positive investments, and mechanisms that can crowd in private capital.

What does this mean for BIOFIN countries

For countries implementing Biodiversity Finance Plans under BIOFIN, the GBFF presents a timely opportunity.

BIOFIN’s work, assessing expenditures, identifying finance gaps, and designing finance solutions, creates a pipeline of investment-ready ideas. The GBFF can help turn those ideas into funded projects.

However, preparation is key.

A new call for proposals is expected soon. Countries and partners are encouraged to begin early by:

• Engaging with an accredited agency (such as UNDP or a development bank)
• Consulting their national operational focal point
• Developing clear project concepts aligned with biodiversity targets
• Identifying co-financing opportunities, particularly from the private sector

Understanding the funding landscape

The GEF system offers multiple entry points.

Under the GEF Trust Fund, countries receive a STAR allocation, a defined envelope of funding available over a multi-year cycle. This can support larger, integrated projects across sectors.

The GBFF, by contrast, provides more targeted funding, with a country cap currently set at around $2.7 million per project. While smaller in scale, these projects are designed to be strategic, catalytic, and closely aligned with biodiversity priorities.

Together, these instruments offer a complementary toolkit: one for broad, integrated transformation, and another for focused biodiversity impact.

Looking ahead

As global attention turns to the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, financing will remain the critical enabler.

The GBFF represents more than a new fund; it signals a shift toward more focused, strategic, and partnership-driven biodiversity finance.

For BIOFIN countries, the message is clear: the opportunity is there. The next step is to turn plans into pipelines and pipelines into investment-ready projects that can deliver real impact for nature and people.