Beyond Aid: Why Biodiversity Finance Needs New Sources of Investment
Insights from Benjamin Singer, Senior Biodiversity Specialist at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), shared during the Regional Dialogue on Biodiversity Finance for Africa and the Arab States in Nairobi in June 2026.
As countries work to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, one reality is becoming increasingly clear: biodiversity cannot rely on traditional sources of funding alone.
Speaking at the Regional Dialogue on Biodiversity Finance for Africa and the Arab States in Nairobi, Benjamin Singer, Senior Biodiversity Specialist at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), highlighted why the current financing landscape is changing and why Biodiversity Finance Plans are becoming an essential tool for unlocking new investment for nature.
A historic decline in development assistance calls for new approaches
The world is facing the largest year-on-year decline in Official Development Assistance (ODA) since records began.
For biodiversity, this represents more than a temporary funding challenge—it signals the need for a fundamental shift in how conservation is financed.
"For many years, biodiversity finance has depended, at least in part, on development assistance," Singer explained. "Now we need to build a more resilient system by diversifying where finance comes from."
Rather than relying primarily on donor funding, countries increasingly need to combine multiple financing sources, including domestic public finance, private investment, innovative finance mechanisms, environmental fiscal reforms and other long-term revenue streams that can sustain biodiversity action.
This transition is critical to building financial resilience while helping countries meet their biodiversity commitments.
The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund: A dedicated vehicle for nature
To help accelerate implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the Global Environment Facility established the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) in 2023.
GBFF is the newest member of the GEF family of funds and differs from the longstanding GEF Trust Fund in one important way: it focuses exclusively on biodiversity.
While the GEF Trust Fund supports multiple environmental priorities, including climate change, land degradation and international waters, the GBFF is dedicated entirely to financing biodiversity conservation and restoration.
By concentrating exclusively on biodiversity, the fund aims to support projects that directly contribute to achieving the goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Biodiversity Finance Plans are creating an investment roadmap
One of the strongest examples of collaboration between GEF and UNDP BIOFIN is support for countries developing Biodiversity Finance Plans (BFPs).
Through GEF financing, UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) helps 91 countries design national Biodiversity Finance Plans that identify financing needs, assess existing expenditures, and develop practical finance solutions.
According to Singer, these plans are valuable not only for governments, but also for financing institutions.
"Biodiversity Finance Plans provide a map," he said. "They identify where financing gaps exist, where additional investment is needed, and which opportunities have the greatest potential to leverage new sources of finance."
Rather than presenting biodiversity simply as an environmental challenge, BFPs translate national priorities into investment opportunities that can attract both domestic and international funding.
Catalyzing finance beyond traditional grants
As public development finance becomes more constrained, catalytic financing becomes increasingly important.
Singer emphasized that the role of institutions such as GEF and the GBFF is not only to provide grants, but to use limited public resources strategically to unlock significantly larger flows of finance.
This includes mobilizing private investment, strengthening domestic public finance, and supporting financial mechanisms that can continue generating resources long after an individual project has ended.
For GEF, Biodiversity Finance Plans help identify those opportunities where relatively modest investments can trigger much larger financial impacts for biodiversity.
Regional dialogue helps transform ideas into investments
The Regional Dialogue on Biodiversity Finance for Africa and the Arab States in Nairobi demonstrated the growing momentum among countries seeking innovative approaches to biodiversity finance.
Over three days, government representatives shared finance solutions, exchanged experiences, and presented practical ideas for mobilizing resources for biodiversity and forests.
For Singer, these discussions represent more than knowledge sharing.
"Each of these ideas is like a gem for the GEF," he said. "They help us identify where strategic investment can unlock larger flows of public and private finance."
The dialogue highlighted the value of bringing countries together, not only to exchange lessons learned, but also to connect promising finance solutions with potential sources of investment.
As biodiversity finance enters a new era, partnerships between governments, UNDP BIOFIN, GEF and other financial institutions will play an increasingly important role in turning ambitious national plans into lasting action for nature.