The third Finance and Biodiversity Day at the latest Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP has served as a stark reminder that the survival of the global economy is inextricably linked to the survival of the natural world. As global leaders, central bank governors, and finance ministers gathered for a high-level roundtable, the message was clear: nature is no longer just an environmental concern, but a fundamental pillar of macroeconomic stability.
With more than half of global GDP moderately or highly dependent on nature, the systemic risks posed by biodiversity loss—including threats to food security, public revenue, and economic resilience—are becoming impossible for financial institutions to ignore. Yet, despite the urgency of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the financial commitments required to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 are currently falling short.
The GBF establishes two critical pillars for economic action: Target 18, which mandates the reduction of harmful incentives by at least US$500 billion annually, and Target 19, which calls for mobilizing at least US$200 billion per year from all sources by 2030. According to recent data, progress remains sluggish. Harmful subsidies continue to dwarf investments in nature-based solutions, and the current pace of mobilization has yielded less than US$200 billion over the past four years—a figure that represents total action rather than the necessary annual investment.
The discourse at the roundtable emphasized that transitioning to a nature-positive economy requires more than environmental rhetoric; it demands a fundamental shift in fiscal policy. Governments wield enormous economic power, with public expenditure accounting for 25–30 percent of global GDP—roughly US$30 trillion per year. By aligning these budgets with nature-positive outcomes, ministries of finance can create the necessary fiscal space for sustainable development while simultaneously mitigating the risks associated with climate change and ecological collapse.
“We must move faster by aligning public finance with nature, which creates fiscal space for development,” experts noted during the summit. Central banks are increasingly incorporating nature loss into their assessments of macroeconomic risk, and tools for the private sector to disclose and mitigate their impacts on biodiversity are becoming more readily available. However, the “capital stack” of this transition must be anchored by coherent national planning. The integration of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) is essential to provide the clarity required to mobilize private capital.
To support this transition, international institutions are scaling up technical assistance. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in partnership with the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, has launched a “Nature Primer.” This resource is designed specifically for ministries beginning to integrate biodiversity into their fiscal frameworks. Furthermore, the Global Environment Facility-funded Net-Zero Nature-Positive Accelerator is currently working with the Asian Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), and 12 nations to align national fiscal policies with broader climate and nature goals.
Despite these growing efforts, the fundamental challenge remains one of momentum. The disconnect between environmental commitments and financial realities persists in an era of high capital costs and price volatility. To close the financing gap, participants were urged to carry the discussions beyond the confines of the COP, pushing for deeper integration of biodiversity into the agendas of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and daily fiscal operations.
As the window to reach 2030 targets narrows, the consensus at the roundtable was unequivocal: the stewardship of nature is the stewardship of the global economy. Failure to internalize this reality risks not only the health of ecosystems but the very foundations of the national economies that rely upon them.
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