As the world gears up for COP30—the “COP of Solutions”—the spotlight is on one critical question: how do we finance the global goals for nature and biodiversity? Meeting the targets of the three Rio Conventions will require unprecedented collaboration and scale-up of private sector investment. This is where innovative finance and cross-sector partnerships can become game changers.
UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has been at the forefront of guiding financial institutions to align capital flows with sustainability goals, pushing the finance sector to play a vital role in nature conservation and restoration. Supporting Target 19 of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework—mobilizing financial resources from all sources—is a key focus area, demanding new models that connect government biodiversity strategies with private sector finance.
Revenues for Nature (R4N) is a global project led by the Green Finance Institute Hive in partnership with UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and UNEP FI. R4N convenes a broad Community of Practice including banks, insurers, investors, governments, and local communities to develop innovative solutions that unlock private finance at scale for nature-positive outcomes.
One powerful example is the Living Amazon Mechanism (LAM), a blended finance model explored in the latest R4N guidebook, that combines access to credit with technical support to empower small rural producers to build sustainable, nature-friendly businesses. By mobilizing investment directly into the Amazon biome, LAM is paving the way for impactful solutions ahead of COP30—and demonstrating how finance can drive real change for nature globally.
Why this matters for financial institutions
The bioeconomy business and investment model in the Brazilian Amazon focuses on harnessing the economic potential of natural resources in a way that safeguards ecosystems and supports Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
These models often require innovative financing approaches due to challenges such as small transaction sizes, limited collateral, long return horizons, and complex land tenure. By de-risking investments and building capacity at the community level, initiatives like the Living Amazon Mechanism help bridge the gap between global capital and local bioeconomy value chains, making nature-positive businesses viable and scalable in one of the world’s most complex ecosystems.
Scaling the Living Amazon Mechanism globally: A model for UNEP FI members
For UNEP FI members, the Living Amazon Mechanism offers a replicable blueprint for directing private finance toward nature-positive outcomes in other regions. By blending concessional credit with technical assistance, LAM successfully de-risks investments in rural, biodiversity-rich areas while strengthening the capacity of local cooperatives. This structure can be adapted to other biomes—such as the Congo Basin, Southeast Asia, or Central America—where similar challenges limit investment in sustainable livelihoods and ecosystem restoration.
The Principles for Responsible Banking’s client engagement guidance, published by UNEP FI last year, illustrates how financial institutions can embed nature and community impact into mainstream financing. By leveraging philanthropic partnerships and engaging with local governments, UNEP FI members can help scale bioeconomy models that empower Indigenous Peoples and local communities, while advancing Target 19 of the Global Biodiversity Framework. As COP30 approaches, LAM stands as a ready-to-scale model that connects capital markets with grassroots conservation and sustainable development initiatives.
How the Living Amazon Mechanism works
The Living Amazon Mechanism combines access to credit with technical support to help small rural producers build environmentally sustainable businesses.
It has two core components:
- A credit facility offering below-market loans to cooperatives producing non-timber forest products like açaí, palm heart, and cocoa.
- An enabling conditions facility that provides grant-funded technical assistance to build institutional capacity.
In its 2023–2024 pilot, LAM supported over a dozen cooperatives across the Brazilian states of Pará, Amazonas, Amapá, and Rondônia—demonstrating how tailored finance mechanisms can overcome barriers to investment.
For more information on the Living Amazon Mechanism, download the latest Revenues for Nature guidebook or join our Revenues for Nature Community of Practice to stay at the forefront of nature-positive finance.