Background & Event Description

 

Finance for nature continues to be significantly below what is required to bend the curve and restore biodiversity in scale.  On Finance Day at COP16 this session will look to explore progress in implementation of Goal D and Target 19 of the Kunming – Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for mobilizing finance for nature and particularly the role of partnership in scaling the work among multilateral and bilateral agencies, foundations, and civil society organizations.  

 

The event will also include a keynote presentation from TNC to set out the existing situation for nature finance. The session will then move to a panel discussion among different partners, including speakers from AFD, ADB and TNC.  They will inform on variety of different innovative financing mechanisms and share successes and challenges to mobilize both public and private finance for nature. Developing countries continue to struggle to find financial resources to support biodiversity focused initiatives, while there is clear evidence that investing in nature can deliver for climate and livelihoods. This session will look to examine new and innovative financing mechanisms and grant resources that can be accessed by the countries, such as through the Nature Solutions Finance Hub that was launched by ADB with partners and aims to mobilize USD 5 billion by 2030 to reduce the financial gap for biodiversity.

 

Experiences at the country level will also be shared, to provide their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities, and what can be done further to fill the funding gap.

 

Closing Remarks will also be provided by NatureFinance to wrap up discussions and give some thoughts and ideas for our future directions.

 

GBF Target (s) This event is specifically focused toward Target 18 on incentives and subsidies for activities harmful to biodiversity and 19 on scaling up nature positive finance. Targets 14 and 15 on policies, regulations, planning and disclosure are also relevant.

 

Target Audience

 

This side event is expected to be organized on the Finance Day at COP16 and will contribute to the discussion and explore this topic in detail. It is critical that there is strong engagement with the finance sector to address the continuing biodiversity loss. The event will be of value to Parties, international organizations, civil society the private sector, particularly other financial institutions.

Participants will learn about the overall situation analysis with respect to funding for nature and will then be given some examples of the innovative finance mechanisms that have been deployed to date and the opportunities that may be available to tap into these.

Program

Time	Segment	Speakers
16.30 am	Introduction	Mr. Duncan Lang, Environment, CCSD, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
16.35 am	Message of Support	Recorded message from Ms. Roberta Casali, Vice President Finance and Risk Management, ADB
16.40 am	Keynote Presentation	Ms. Melissa Garvey, Global Director of Nature Bonds, The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
16.55 pm	Panel Discussion	Moderator: Duncan Lang, ADB Panelists: AFD (Speaker TBC) Ms. Pattarin Tongsima,  Head of Strategy and Policy Group, Biodiversity Management Division, Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), Thailand Ms. Jennifer Romero-Torres, Sustainable Finance Lead, Asian Development Bank Mr. Sivendra Michael, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Climate, Fiji Ms. Melissa Garvey, TNC
17.35 pm	Closing Remarks	Mr. Arend Kulenkampff, Director, Sustainability-Linked Sovereign Debt Hub, NatureFinance

 

References

https://www.paulsoninstitute.org/conservation/financing-nature-report/

Nature Solutions Finance Hub for Climate and the Environment (adb.org)

https://www.adb.org/work-with-us/investors/adb-green-bonds

https://www.icmagroup.org/sustainable-finance/impact-reporting/green-projects/