At the resumed COP16 negotiations in Rome on February 27, 2025, governments adopted the first global strategy to finance biodiversity, marking a significant step toward closing the $700 billion annual biodiversity funding gap. This agreement, reached under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), sets a framework for mobilizing financial resources to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) by scaling up investments, reforming subsidies, and strengthening financial mechanisms.
Beyond its immediate impact, this milestone sets a precedent for major environmental negotiations in 2025, including UNFCCC COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and the ongoing talks for a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. It also carries significant implications for financial institutions, reinforcing expectations for the financial sector to align investments with biodiversity goals, scale up nature-positive financing, integrate biodiversity risks into decision-making, and enhance transparency in tracking financial flows toward conservation and restoration.
“The results of this meeting show that multilateralism works and is the vehicle to build the partnerships needed to protect biodiversity and move us towards Peace with Nature,” said Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Closing the Biodiversity Finance Gap
The biodiversity finance gap—estimated at $700 billion per year—represents the shortfall in financial resources required to effectively protect and restore nature. Despite accelerating biodiversity loss, current funding remains inadequate. The GBF calls for a significant scaling up of investment from public and private sources to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The newly adopted strategy provides a framework to mobilize finance through a range of mechanisms, including public funding from national and subnational governments, private sector contributions, philanthropic resources, multilateral development banks, and blended finance approaches. Importantly, it emphasizes the inclusion of indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and youth in decision-making processes while aligning with the three Rio Conventions to enhance synergies in global environmental governance.
Key Targets in the New Biodiversity Finance Strategy
The strategy outlines key commitments for governments and financial institutions to:
- Increase biodiversity-related international financial flows to developing countries, targeting at least $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.
- Mobilize at least $200 billion annually by 2030 from domestic, international, public, and private sources to scale up positive incentives for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
- Phase out or reform subsidies harmful to biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year by 2030 (GBF Target 18).
This announcement follows the launch of the Cali Fund for Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from Digital Sequence Information (DSI), which will receive contributions from private sector companies that use DSI commercially. The fund represents a breakthrough in biodiversity finance, requiring industries benefiting from genetic resource data to contribute a share of their revenue or profits to conservation efforts.
A Transformative Step for Nature Finance
This agreement marks a transformative shift in global biodiversity finance, with an unprecedented focus on mobilizing private sector contributions. Private finance is referenced 19 times in the final text, underscoring its critical role in closing the biodiversity finance gap. For financial institutions, this is a pivotal moment—one that highlights both their responsibility and their opportunity to align financial flows with global biodiversity goals.
Camille Maclet, Head of Natural Capital and Biodiversity at BNP Paribas Group, emphasized the role of financial institutions: “As a leading global bank, we recognize the need to support the mobilization of resources towards nature conservation, restoration, and sustainable use. We have integrated biodiversity considerations into our financing and investment policies and actively engage with clients to encourage sustainable financial practices. Through the BNP Paribas Foundation’s Climate and Biodiversity Initiative, we also support research on nature conservation and climate change adaptation.”
Thomas Viegas, Nature Strategy Lead at Aviva, also welcomed the agreement: “We recognize that the long-term success of our business, customers, and wider society depends on the health and resilience of nature and its biodiversity. It is extremely positive to see global agreement in Rome on key issues, such as resourcing and monitoring. This consensus and clarity help support the ability of private finance to implement the GBF’s targets, goals, and ambition.”
Three Key Actions for Financial Institutions:
The new biodiversity finance strategy outlines three priority actions for financial institutions:
- Strengthening Environmental and Social Safeguards:
Financial institutions must develop standard methods, principles, and guidelines for tracking, reporting, and disclosing biodiversity investments and impacts. This includes frameworks such as biodiversity credits and emerging disclosure standards. - Scaling Up Biodiversity Investments:
Institutions should expand investments through impact funds, blended finance, and public-private partnerships to drive financial flows towards nature-positive solutions. - Enhancing Transparency and Disclosure:
Financial institutions should regularly assess and disclose their risks, dependencies, and impacts on biodiversity through nature-related disclosure frameworks and reporting standards.
UNEP FI’s Role in Advancing Biodiversity Finance
UNEP FI works closely with financial institutions to support the implementation of the new biodiversity finance strategy and ensure alignment with the GBF. This includes:
- Providing guidance on environmental and social safeguards.
- Standardizing biodiversity finance tracking and reporting.
- Promoting blended finance and impact investing.
- Encouraging financial institutions to integrate biodiversity risks and opportunities into their operations and business strategy.
By fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, UNEP FI helps bridge the biodiversity funding gap and drive financial solutions that contribute to global biodiversity goals.
Learn more about UNEP FI’s work and how financial institutions can take nature-positive action.
Access the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity documents here.