Santiago: The 6th edition of the Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance took place in Chile from May 6-8, as over 130 countries rallied behind global biodiversity goals, exploring bold innovations - from nature bonds to repurposed subsidies, from fintech to nature credits - to unlock sustainable funding for conservation in an era of declining international aid.
According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, the conference heralded a surge of global support for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with 92 new countries advancing their national biodiversity finance plans. Organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), it constituted the largest gathering of the nature-finance community to date, convening senior government figures from ministries of environment and finance, including delegates from Cambodia.
The UNDP's press release emphasized the necessity of innovation in public finance, subsidy repurposing, private sector engagement, and access to finance for Indigenous Peoples and local communities for sustainable finance for nature. Currently, approximately one million animal and plant species face extinction, many within the coming decades, primarily due to human activities such as land and sea use changes, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species.
'Today, the main challenge is to make biodiversity visible and recognize its critical role in economic development, social organization, and the identity of our countries, bringing its understanding to a clear, measurable dimension that is integrated into national accounts and sustainable economic development,' stated H.E. Maisa Rojas, Minister of the Environment of Chile, during the opening session.
BIOFIN is a global partnership with over 133 countries to develop and implement finance solutions for nature. Since 2018, it has deployed the finance-for-finance approach in 41 countries to catalyze over US$1.6 billion for nature. Cambodia joined the partnership in 2019 as the 31st member country, and UNDP has been working alongside the Ministry of Environment to identify and support the implementation of biodiversity finance solutions to significantly enhance biodiversity management and financing.
Key achievements include the Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), the Biodiversity Needs Assessment (FNA), the Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER), and the Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP), which highlight the top five priority biodiversity finance solutions for Cambodia.
A recurring theme at the conference was the increasing role of the private sector in fostering nature-positive investment decisions through blended finance instruments such as green bonds and equitable approaches like access and benefit sharing. A global shift to nature-positive economies could generate up to US$10 trillion in new business opportunities, as stated in UNDP's Nature Pledge-a flagship commitment to support 140 countries in achieving global biodiversity targets.
'This conference exemplifies the momentum we are building through the UNDP Nature Pledge to shift how we account for nature in our economic and financial systems around the world,' said Midori Paxton, Global Director of UNDP's Nature Hub.
The progress achieved at the 6th Global Conference comes at a pivotal time, with significant global milestones ahead in 2025, including the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain and the UN's Climate COP30 in Brazil. It offers a crucial opportunity to advance the integration of biodiversity finance into national development plans and the broader Sustainable Development Goals agenda.