Knowledge base

This publication was produced within the framework of the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Argentina project. The analysis and conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Development Programme, its Executive Board, or its Member States.

UNDP builds partnerships at all levels of society to help nations withstand crises and promote and sustain growth that improves the quality of life for all. Present on the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer a global perspective and local knowledge in the service of people and nations.

Well-intentioned subsidies targeting socio-economic goals can have unintended negative impacts on nature.

Our exceptional speakers shared knowledge and best practices on how to identify and redesign harmful subsidies and improve their positive impacts on people and nature.

Speakers:

• Haoliang Xu, Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• Rebecca Pow MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature (Minister for Nature), United Kingdom
• Maria Teresa Becerra, Chief of Office, International Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia
• David Laborde, Director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division, FAO Moderator:
• Francine Pickup - Deputy Assistant Administrator of UNDP and Deputy Director in the Office of Policy and Programme Support, UNDP

Download the guidelines on harmful subsidies

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UNDP BIOFIN and UNEP FI launch a new partnership aimed at strengthening support for countries via a Public-Private Community of Practice for Nature and Development Finance, which will engage public and private actors to share thought-leadership and practice on emerging topics and challenges including debt sustainability, debt for nature conversions, the biodiversity credit markets, nature-based solutions, the voluntary carbon market, sustainability-linked bonds and loans, and impact finance. The collaboration includes a webinar series aimed at public officials to help better understand the possible application of private finance to their NBSAP review and implementation. This webinar is aimed at supporting CBD Parties to better understand the possible application of public and private finance to their NBSAP revision and update. BIOFIN and UNEP FI will provide an overview of the partnership and its goals, will introduce the recently released briefing note, and will gather information from the audience about which topics they would like to learn more about and what they would like to gain from this partnership.

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For Thailand’s biodiversity finance perspective, UNDP has conducted the review of biodiversity-related expenditures for all government agencies from 2022 – 2024. The findings show that the country's primary funding for biodiversity comes from the government budget. Budget data shows that responsibility for biodiversity-related activities rests mainly on three core environmental agencies – the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, and the Royal Forest Department. All three are within the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, making the ministry the central authority in charge of biodiversity conservation and management efforts in Thailand. Total biodiversity-related expenditures for the fiscal years 2022 – 2024 amount to 20.8 billion THB, but there are fluctuations from year to year. Taken together with findings from previous BER, it is found that allocations for biodiversity from government budget as a proportion of total government expenditures is in decline, dropping from 0.53% in 2016 to 0.38% in 2020, and to 0.16% in 2022 before rebounding slightly to 0.30% in 2023. To address the funding gap and improve efficiency, the government should explore increased private sector involvement, cost-saving measures, and revenue generation strategies for biodiversity conservation and to avoid future expenditure on the biodiversity.

Nearly 1 million species are at risk of extinction because of human activity. It is time to ensure that efforts help reverse and not accelerate the looming planetary crises – climate change and nature loss – while also boosting sustainable job opportunities for communities. 

Increasing evidence demonstrates that well-intended subsidies and government support that target socio-economic goals (food security, energy security, etc.) may have unintended negative and costly environmental effects, including biodiversity. The countries have taken little action to redirect finances from environmentally harmful subsidies by reducing or redesigning them. 

To facilitate this process and support the implementation of the global biodiversity framework of the coming decade, the UNDP-Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) has developed step-by-step guidelines to examine, repurpose, and monitor major subsidies to make them fiscally responsible and nature-positive. These guidelines are guiding countries to: 

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Well-intentioned subsidies aimed at socio-economic goals can have unintended negative impacts on the environment, including biodiversity. The BIOFIN team has developed a step-by-step guide to repurpose such subsidies and improve their positive impacts on people and nature.

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

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Uno de los retos más importantes en la conservación de la biodiversidad es la diversificación de esquemas de financiamiento efectivos que ayuden al cumplimiento de los objetivos y metas nacionales e internacionales. En México estos compromisos provienen principalmente del Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biológica (CDB) y la Estrategia Nacional de Biodiversidad.

Dentro del esquema de diversificación del financiamiento para biodiversidad, se encuentra la asociación de recursos públicos y privados de financiamiento, como el caso del programa de Mecanismos Locales de Pago por Servicios Ambientales (MLPSA) a través de Fondos Concurrentes de la Comisión Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR).

Este esquema busca principalmente acercar recursos a los dueños de los bosques para su conservación y mantenimientos y de los flujos de servicios ambientales que proveen.

Los MLPSA son una herramienta valiosa para incentivar la conservación de ecosistemas críticos. Para fortalecer y ampliar estos mecanismos, BIOFIN desarrolló un proyecto en colaboración con la CONAFOR para promover el involucramiento de los Distritos y Unidades de Riego en la protección de áreas de biodiversidad en cuencas hidrográficas, que desempeñan un papel esencial en la regulación y suministro de agua para actividades agrícolas.

In December 2022, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and South African National Parks (SANParks) commissioned the development of a financing strategy for the Greater Kruger Strategic Development Programme (GKSDP). This publication – Unlocking finance for Greater Kruger – tables the results, findings and recommendations of this assignment, which was carried out over a period of six months by a consortium of partners: Conservation South Africa, Endangered Wildlife Trust, ENS Africa and Rand Merchant Bank. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes that there is a significant gap in funding for biodiversity conservation across land uses – from formal protected areas to area-based conservation measures implemented to secure ecological connectivity and habitat integrity in rapidly changing landscapes. As the world aims for the ambitious target known as ‘30 x 30’ adopted in 2022 – to protect or conserve 30% of land and oceans by 2030 – the funding gap continues to widen. It is up to the conservation sector to address this chasm, which demands new ways of mobilising investment in the absence of effective traditional conservation financing mechanisms. The Greater Kruger Finance Strategy responds to this challenge with a holistic approach to landscape-level finance that incorporates core conservation areas as well as the interconnected ecological areas that surround and support them. The strategy makes a bold attempt not only to address existing financing needs but also to address human development needs in a nature-positive way that will attract finance to the landscape as a whole. The strategy is a first attempt to work at this scale from a financing perspective; although it will require ongoing refinement and realignment as practical lessons are learnt, it constitutes a strong foundation upon which to shift to more ambitious financing goals to support even greater protection. The approach puts people and protected areas at the heart of landscape-level conservation financing efforts to ensure long-term integrity of the National Park as well as the communities and species that depend on its sustainability as a wholly functional, nature-positive landscape. The strategy recognizes the importance of inclusivity. It follows, therefore, that this report is intended for a broad audience – from potential interested funders, through to project participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries. The report includes high-level due diligence of Greater Kruger and its investment landscape (via a top-down–bottom-up approach), identification and application of eight mechanisms (in various stages of development),1 and a suggested prioritization and phased implementation plan, with recommendations of tools and resources to drive and sustain this plan. The research conducted for this strategy strongly supports the use of nature-positive landscape investment to finance diverse activities that enhance natural capital and in so doing underlines the ways in which nature improves lives. This aligns very cleanly with the two core strategic objectives of the GKSDP: securing the natural capital base of the Greater Kruger landscape and, increasing employment and sustaining livelihoods – objectives that are not only nature-positive but also pursue a positive socioeconomic outlook.

More than 50% of the global economy relies on biodiversity, and about USD 44 trillion, is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services. The Global Futures Initiative estimates that a business-as-usual scenario will see biodiversity loss cause financial losses of USD 10 trillion between 2011 and 2050.  Over the last three to five years there has been a rapidly emerging narrative around the materiality of nature-related risks and impacts globally. There is a realization amongst key actors that the private sector has a key role to play in biodiversity conservation and how nature poses double materiality which will ultimately affect the private sector bottom lines. For the financial community, nature finance is about both crystallizing and taking account of nature related financial risks and valuing the place of natural capital and ecosystem services in investment. 

Objectives:

• Profile the current pre-investment and seed funding ready biodiversity investment opportunities in South Africa and other BIOFIN countries
• Sharing of emerging BIOFIN finance solutions such as disclosure frameworks, repurposing harmful subsidies, insurance, and risk management  
• Facilitate experience sharing and technical discussions around using private sector finance to bridge the biodiversity funding gap. 
• Improved BIOFIN countries' network    

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for a whole-of-society approach to halting and reversing nature loss. UNDP BIOFIN and UNEP FI, supported by the Global Environment Facility, released a briefing note on how the NBSAP review can successfully engage public and private finance simultaneously. This will help prepare financial institutions to play their role in contributing to the goals and targets of the NBSAP in their respective countries. While relevance to each country’s circumstances, starting point, and key relevant sectors will vary, this briefing suggests some broad approaches and signposts to existing tools and guidance toward engaging the financial sector.

This briefing paper will help policymakers identify the private finance sector actors involved in nature, and how they can support the delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It also explores enhancement of portfolio alignment with nature targets by shifting financial flows away from nature-negative activities. Policymakers will also discover methods to unlock more private finance domestically while looking at available options to regulate the financial sector concerning biodiversity. Finally, the briefing will discuss the potential future for public-private collaboration on biodiversity finance.

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