International Workshop on Mobilising Public and Private Finance for Biodiversity

Mobilising finance for biodiversity is essential to achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The workshop on Mobilising Public and Private Finance for Biodiversity – convened by the OECD, with the support of the European Commission, SG REFORM – examined challenges, opportunities, and good practices to increase the scale and impact of biodiversity finance.

The event covered a range of financing mechanisms, from payments for ecosystem services and biodiversity offsets, to biodiversity-related bonds and equity investments. It also examined the role of public and private institutions and enabling policies, such as economic incentives, taxonomies and disclosure requirements, in scaling up biodiversity finance. Additionally, it delved into how innovative project structuring and strategic partnerships can create investable projects that deliver biodiversity benefits.

• Finance is not a solution for a lack of policy: Mobilising financial resources is a key part of the biodiversity challenge, but governments need a broad suite of ambitious and effective policies to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. 
• Public and private finance must work together: Private finance has a critical role to play in supporting biodiversity, but it must complement, not replace, public finance. Both public and private finance must be scaled up in tandem.
• Policy and regulation are key to unlocking private finance: Developing biodiversity programmes or projects (e.g. biodiversity offsets and other nature markets) that attract private investment requires clear policy signals and a strong regulatory framework to ensure environmental integrity. This integrity is vital for building investor confidence and long-term viability. 
• Aligning economic incentives is crucial: Effective biodiversity finance requires better alignment of economic incentives. This includes reforming biodiversity harmful subsidies and applying the "polluter pays" and "beneficiary pays" principles more consistently across sectors.
• Financing green and greening finance go hand in hand: Mobilising biodiversity finance (financing green) and aligning finance with biodiversity goals (greening finance) are two sides of the same coin. Reducing harmful financial flows is critical for tackling biodiversity loss and can also steer capital to biodiversity-positive outcomes. 
• Biodiversity projects need to deliver financial and environmental returns at scale: To attract investment projects need an appropriate scale and risk-return profile. This often involves blended or layered finance structures, technical assistance facilities, and diverse revenue streams. Delivering ecologically and financially viable projects also requires integration of projects horizontally - within landscapes – and vertically through supply chains.
• Power of partnerships - essential for success: Effective biodiversity finance projects are almost always built on strong partnerships across diverse actors: investors, asset managers, public and philanthropic funders, local governments, companies, communities, and project developers all working together toward shared goals but with different interests and expertise.

Insights from the workshop will inform an OECD report on Good Practices on Mobilising Public and Private Finance for Biodiversity (due in Q2 2026). The workshop and report are part of a broader European Commission-funded technical support project aimed at addressing the needs of EU Member States, notably Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands, in aligning and mobilising public and private finance to achieve their national biodiversity targets.

• Scaling Up Biodiversity-Positive Incentives
• Tracking Economic Instruments and Finance for Biodiversity 2024
• OECD International Workshop on Scaling Up Biodiversity-Positive Incentives
• Assessing biodiversity-related financial risks: Navigating the landscape of existing approaches
• A Comprehensive Overview of Global Biodiversity Finance