Investing in Biodiversity and Nature
More than half of the world’s GDP is generated in industries that depend on nature and its services, yet this economic activity is causing unprecedented biodiversity loss, risking livelihoods, economies, and climate goals. We must transition to sustainable business models that protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Finance and innovative financial solutions are key to supporting this transition; and biodiversity finance has emerged as a fast-growing area in green finance with increased interest from investors, financial institutions, and issuers globally.
Despite increased interest, the market lacked guidance on how to invest in this area. To fill this gap, IFC developed the Biodiversity Finance Reference Guide to provide a structured approach for investors and financiers to identify eligible use of proceeds that constitute biodiversity finance. Given this is a nascent area, IFC is developing additional supplemental materials to support the implementation of the Guide.
Institutional Commitment
The World Bank Group Climate Change Action Plan commits to scale investments in nature as part of transformative action to address climate change and biodiversity loss crises together. Separate approaches to resolve each crisis risk being less impactful and fiscally inefficient.
In addition, IFC, as part of the World Bank Group, signed a Joint Statement on Nature, People and Planet, committing Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to mainstream nature into their operations. The MDB Common Principles for Tracking Nature-Positive Finance provide guidance for tracking nature-positive investments across MDBs portfolios. In line with these principles, the World Bank Group has developed and released Nature Finance Tracking Methodology to be applied across all institutions of the World Bank Group.
