UNDP’s BIOFIN Unlocks $2.7 Billion for Global Nature and Biodiversity Finance

The milestone marks a substantial leap from US$1.7 billion in 2024, underscoring the growing momentum for nature-positive finance and policy reforms across the globe.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that its flagship Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) has helped governments worldwide mobilize more than US$2.7 billion in financing for nature and biodiversity protection. The milestone marks a substantial leap from US$1.7 billion in 2024, underscoring the growing momentum for nature-positive finance and policy reforms across the globe.

The announcement came during the 11th Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Dialogue on Biodiversity Finance, held in Mérida, Mexico, where policymakers, development partners, and financial institutions convened to accelerate investments that align economic growth with environmental protection.

“These results demonstrate how systematic, nationally owned approaches can transform public budgets, markets, and investment decisions to align with the goals of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” said Midori Paxton, Director of UNDP’s Nature Hub. “They show that finance for people and planet can go hand in hand.”

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Scaling Up Nature-Positive Finance Worldwide

BIOFIN supports countries in identifying, mobilizing, and managing financial resources for biodiversity through innovative mechanisms and fiscal policy reforms. With biodiversity finance solutions already implemented in 41 countries and work now underway in 91 more, BIOFIN is expanding its reach to become one of the largest coordinated global efforts to integrate nature into economic and budgetary planning.

These finance solutions include:

• Green bonds to fund climate and biodiversity-friendly projects,

• Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFTs) that incentivize subnational governments to protect ecosystems,

• Biodiversity-linked insurance instruments, and

• Reforms of harmful subsidies that redirect financial flows from nature-negative to nature-positive activities.

Together, these measures are helping governments bridge the biodiversity finance gap—the estimated US$700 billion annual shortfall between current spending and what is needed to halt biodiversity loss globally.

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A Collaborative Global Effort

BIOFIN is implemented through a broad coalition of development and financial partners, including the European Commission, and the governments of Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, Flanders, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France, alongside the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

“These systemic reforms strengthen economies and deliver tangible benefits for people and the planet,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF. “Through the GEF–UNDP partnership, governments are recognizing the economic potential of putting nature at the center of development planning.”

Rodríguez added that aligning national budgets and financial systems with biodiversity goals not only supports the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) but also unlocks new pathways for economic resilience, sustainability, and growth.

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From Aid to Enduring Domestic Finance

Unlike traditional conservation programs that depend on external funding, BIOFIN emphasizes sustainable, country-led finance solutions. It focuses on reforming public financial management systems, strengthening budgetary frameworks, and introducing domestic financial mechanisms to generate lasting, internal revenue for biodiversity protection.

This shift toward systemic fiscal reform ensures that biodiversity conservation becomes a permanent feature of national economic planning, not an isolated environmental initiative.

The program’s approach aligns closely with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for the mobilization of at least US$200 billion per year by 2030 from public and private sources to halt and reverse nature loss.

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Biodiversity Finance Gap: The Economic Case for Nature

The urgency of BIOFIN’s work is underscored by the worsening global biodiversity crisis. According to UN estimates, one million species of plants and animals are now at risk of extinction—many within the coming decades—due to land-use change, pollution, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change.

Nature underpins human and economic well-being: more than half of global GDP depends on natural resources and ecosystem services. When biodiversity declines, jobs, productivity, and stability decline as well.

BIOFIN’s goal is to help countries close the biodiversity finance gap by embedding biodiversity considerations into national fiscal policies, thereby ensuring economic systems work for nature, not against it.

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Examples of Tangible Impact

BIOFIN’s global footprint is producing measurable results:

• Zambia issued a US$150 million green bond to expand renewable energy and biodiversity-friendly investments.

• Malaysia’s Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) system now channels hundreds of millions of dollars annually to states that conserve forests and ecosystems.

• In Mexico, BIOFIN celebrates its 10th anniversary, having catalyzed US$14 million for biodiversity-related projects nationwide.

• Kazakhstan integrated biodiversity into its national budgeting system, ensuring long-term funding for ecosystem restoration and the management of 29 million hectares of protected areas—covering 10.77% of national territory.

• In Colombia and Ecuador, environmental funds and green SME loans are supporting sustainable production and conservation in protected areas.

• The Philippines institutionalized biodiversity finance planning across government agencies, resulting in recurring budget allocations dedicated to nature protection.

These successes demonstrate how BIOFIN’s model—integrating biodiversity into fiscal policy—creates sustainable financial flows while strengthening economic stability and governance.

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Linking Climate and Biodiversity Goals

The BIOFIN initiative reinforces the growing recognition that addressing climate change and biodiversity loss are inseparable goals. Healthy ecosystems play a crucial role in carbon sequestration, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation.

As countries prepare for COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the focus is shifting toward nature-positive transitions that deliver both environmental protection and economic opportunity. BIOFIN’s framework provides governments with practical, evidence-based tools to achieve these intertwined objectives.

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A Model for Nature-Positive Development

By transforming fiscal systems, BIOFIN helps countries move beyond conservation as a cost toward biodiversity as an economic asset. Governments are increasingly recognizing that investing in nature yields high social and economic returns—from clean water and food security to job creation in sustainable sectors like ecotourism, forestry, and green energy.

The Biodiversity Finance Plans (BFPs) developed under BIOFIN are now formally recognized under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework as a key mechanism for translating national commitments into measurable, finance-backed action.

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Looking Ahead: Scaling Nature Finance for a Sustainable Future

With operations expanding to nearly 130 countries, BIOFIN is poised to help governments mobilize tens of billions more in the years ahead. Its model of country ownership, systemic reform, and cross-sector collaboration offers a blueprint for financing the global biodiversity agenda.

“Nature is the foundation of our economies and well-being,” said Midori Paxton. “By financing nature, we are financing our future.”

The progress of BIOFIN demonstrates that with political will, financial innovation, and global solidarity, a nature-positive economy is not just possible—it is already taking shape.