Finance Solution · Public · Budget systems

Biodiversity Budget Tagging

Use this solution when a government needs to see, track and steer how much of its own budget is biodiversity-relevant, as a basis for reallocation and reporting.

Finance type
Public
Instrument category
Budget systems
Sector
Cross-sectoral
Level of application
National; subnational
Primary outcome
Avoid Future Expenditures
Expected results
Policy | Capacity Building
GBF targets
Targets 14, 18 and 19
Implementation stage
Scaled

1. What problem does this solution address?

Biodiversity spending is spread across agriculture, forestry, water, fisheries and infrastructure budgets, so governments cannot state what they spend or where the gaps are. Tagging classifies budget lines by biodiversity relevance inside the existing budget system, producing a repeatable figure that can be tracked over time.

2. When should this solution be used?

Use this solution when

  • A programme-based or classified budget system is in place.
  • Ministry of finance ownership can be secured beyond a one-off exercise.
  • A biodiversity expenditure review has established a starting methodology.

Less suitable when

  • Budget data is not disaggregated enough to attribute relevance credibly.
  • No institution will maintain the tagging after the first year.

3. How does the solution work?

  1. SourceExisting budget lines
  2. InstrumentRelevance tagging methodology
  3. RecipientMinistries and agencies
  4. OutputAnnual tagged expenditure figure
  5. OutcomeReallocation and reporting

Source of funding: no new money is raised; existing appropriations are classified. Allocation mechanism: budget lines are tagged by relevance weighting, usually building on Biodiversity Expenditure Review methodology, and integrated into budget circulars. Use of funds: results inform reallocation decisions, finance plans and international reporting.

4. What results does this solution deliver?

  • Produces a defensible, repeatable figure for national biodiversity expenditure.
  • Identifies where spending is concentrated and where it is absent.
  • Supports reallocation debates with evidence held by the finance ministry.
  • Provides the reporting basis for GBF resource mobilisation commitments.

Observed result: BIOFIN expenditure reviews and tagging work have been used to establish national baselines and inform budget dialogue in more than 40 countries.

5. Alignment with the Global Biodiversity Framework

14

Integrates biodiversity into budget planning and public expenditure decisions.

18

Identifies incentives and spending that may be harmful to biodiversity.

19

Provides the expenditure data underpinning credible resource mobilisation reporting.

Why this matters for GBF implementation: Tagging turns biodiversity finance from an estimate into a line the budget system itself produces annually, which is what makes gap analysis and reallocation possible.

6-7. Climate and gender markers

Climate marker · OECD Rio Markers

Not targeted

Tagging is a budget process rather than an activity, though many governments run climate and biodiversity tagging together to reduce duplication.

Gender marker

Variable

Tagging can be extended to gender markers, allowing joint reporting on biodiversity and gender-responsive spending.

8. Implementation considerations

What makes tagging stick inside the budget cycle, and what causes it to lapse.

9. Evidence from practice

Country example

Indonesia

Biodiversity budget tagging has been developed alongside expenditure review work to make biodiversity-relevant spending visible across ministries.

Established approaches

Climate budget tagging

Climate tagging systems in place in many countries provide the institutional template that biodiversity tagging can extend rather than duplicate.

BIOFIN relevance: Budget tagging follows directly from the BIOFIN Biodiversity Expenditure Review and is a core part of national biodiversity finance plans.

11. Further guidance and resources

  • UNDP — BIOFIN Workbook 2024 — Biodiversity Expenditure Review
  • BIOFIN — Biodiversity budget tagging guidance
  • OECD — Green budgeting practices