Locations
BIODIVERSITY FINANCING THROUGH UNDP BIODIVERSITY FINANCING INITIATIVE (BIOFIN)
Project Summary
The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) supports countries in developing evidence-based Biodiversity Finance Plans, enabling national stakeholders to increase resources and reduce needs by greening sectoral budgets and identifying areas where available resources can be used more effectively. It supports countries in implementing financial solutions to reach their national biodiversity targets. BIOFIN has been supported by the European Union, the Governments of Germany, Norway, Switzerland, and Belgium. Further contributions at the country and global level were provided by France, Agence Français de Développement (AFD), Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA), UNDP, the GEF, and private sector entities.
Background
The recent “Little Book on Investing in Nature” published by Global Canopy estimates the global annual biodiversity financing gap at US$700 billion. The CBD Panel of Experts on Resource Mobilization highlighted that implementation of the new biodiversity targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) will require additional financial resources, increased resource efficiency, and a reduction of biodiversity-harmful financial flows. Reducing the biodiversity finance gap can only be achieved through transformative change across economies and society.
Given the need for a comprehensive and multi-stakeholder strategic approach to resource mobilization, Target 19 requests all countries to develop national biodiversity finance plans (BFPs). These BFPs should assess the root causes of biodiversity loss, identify national biodiversity finance gaps, and articulate strategies on how to reduce the gaps through a suite of finance solutions aimed at reducing the flow of resources that cause harm to biodiversity, generating additional resources, and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of resource use.
To respond to this need and based on the experience of UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and other relevant methodologies, this project aims to support a global programme that will establish a transformative process for biodiversity finance in all participating eligible countries, involving all relevant stakeholders such as Ministries of Finance and Environment, and the private and financial sectors through a socially and gender-inclusive approach. The project will support countries in baseline diagnostics, capacity and institutional strengthening, and developing finance plans to mobilize resources at scale to implement the GBF.
Project Expected Outcomes
The project objective is to enable countries to mobilize resources at scale to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by supporting baseline diagnostics, capacity building, institutional arrangements, and development of biodiversity financing plans.
Expected project outcomes include:
- Expenditures realigned to reduce negative impacts on biodiversity and make positive contributions towards biodiversity.
- Future expenditures that have a negative impact on biodiversity avoided.
- Generation of new financing targeted towards biodiversity.
- and cost-efficiencies made to current conservation practices that release additional finance for biodiversity;
GESI Component:
The project will ensure equal participation of men and women in all its activities (National Steering Committee, Project Board, workshops and other capacity and decision-making processes). Gender aspects are mainstreamed in the Theory of Change, project outputs, activities, and the budget. Informative sessions will be organized to promote and mainstream gender equality in the work of the project from planning to evaluation. Documentation, case studies, and knowledge generated by the Initiative will be gender sensitive and inclusive of diverse groups among contributors and audiences. Each finance solution in the Biodiversity Finance Plans will be scanned for potential adverse and positive gender impacts, and each Finance plan shall include at least one solution with a strong tangible gender positive impact. The project will actively aim to include finance solutions that have a dedicated objective to support women and vulnerable groups, as well as indigenous communities.
The global team will provide support to countries for gender mainstreaming via the development of a Gender Guidance at the Global level, focused webinars, and workshop presentations. In addition, this project, through its capacity support component, will provide gender equality and women’s empowerment guidance to the recipient government-based on the CBD GBF Gender Plan of Action and its linkages with the most directly relevant goals, milestones and targets of the framework, in order to support the targeted integration of gender actions into national biodiversity finance plans.
Project Details:
- Status: On-going
- Start Date: March 2024
- End Date: February 2028
- Focus area: Biodiversity financing
- Implementing partner: Department of Environment (DOE), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE)
- Donor: GEF
- Total project budget: 314,000 USD
Contacts:
United Nations Development Programme
Lane Xang Avenue
P.O. Box 345 Vientiane, Lao PDR
Email: info.la@undp.org
Tel: +856 (0) 21 267 777
Fax: +856 (0) 21 267 799
