Caribbean Regional Consultation Meeting on Integrated Financing and Governance

Addressing the triple planetary crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution is an urgent imperative. To that end, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Post-2020 GBF) for protecting nature and halting biodiversity loss across the globe. The GBF will be an important tool to complement the other international agreements. Significant resource mobilization across the climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development agenda, in terms of “financing green” (increasing nature-positive flows), financing transitions that are aligned with pathways to maintaining global warming to below 1.5C, and “greening finance” (reducing nature-negative flows and phasing out harmful subsidies as fossil fuel subsidies), will be central to the global response to the poly crises. 

Catalyzing additional finance for biodiversity 

The small island and low-lying coastal states significantly rely on international public sector financing, however, the potential for private sector financing should also be explored, taking into account the nature of the private sector in SIDS and their debt dynamics. 

Domestic public finance - which has historically had an outsized role in financing biodiversity - cannot fill this gap alone. An exponential increase in Official Development Assistance (ODA) alone would also be insufficient. Given this context, UNEP published an analysis in support of CBD COP 15 negotiations, of existing financing mechanisms and instruments in support of biodiversity conservation that includes a review of a select few financial instruments and structures involving public-private partnerships or blended finance structures such as – pooled investment vehicles, bonds, risk mitigation instruments (guarantees & insurance), high-quality carbon credits, and biodiversity offsets & credits. These have the potential to scale and catalyze additional financing for biodiversity.

Enhancing access to biodiversity finance

Drawing from lessons learned with accessing finance from multilateral funds, key features for improving and enhancing access to finance for small island developing states include less burdensome application procedures, simplified approval procedures, direct access modalities for national and regional entities as well as for sub-national and local organizations or entities, faster deployment of funding, efficient governance and reduced transaction costs and information asymmetries. Moreover, given the interconnected nature of challenges, finance solutions that enable co-benefits across climate, biodiversity and development agendas, that align with national priorities, and promote debt sustainability are critical.

Strengthening UNEP’s mandate to support ocean governance issues by exploring biodiversity financing at the country level is pivotal. Biodiversity finance, when effectively implemented, plays a pivotal role in achieving global environmental goals, including the Paris Agreement on limiting climate change to below 1.5OC through the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and achieving Land Degradation Neutrality Targets, and halting biodiversity loss and reverse the three planetary crises. Importantly, successful implementation of financing biodiversity necessitates the whole of government and whole of society approach.

National focal points of MEAs, representatives of Ministries of Finance, Economic Development and Planning, representatives of financing institutions, key civil society organizations and experts working on financing issues. 

At the end of the two-day workshop the participants will have a deeper understanding of integrated financing and identified the various mechanisms applicable at the country level as per the country’s needs. Additionally, the participants will establish collaboration and coordination in financing climate actions, nature conservation and blue economy and strengthen ocean governance.  

About 25 participants from 12 countries in the Caribbean region participated in the two-day meeting to discuss ways and means to integrate finances related to climate, nature, and ocean protection actions. The participants came from Ministries of Environment, focal points, Ministries of Finance and Economic Development, members of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, national biodiversity funds, non-governmental organizations in the region, the Development Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, members of the Caribbean Ecosystems Programme, UNEP staff, UN Resident Coordinators office for the Caribbean region.

The following are five key outcomes from the meeting:

1. National capacities to focus on integrated financing programme and project design are critical to ensure countries will be able to secure financing and deploy them for generating co-benefits.
2. Financing institutions need to understand the specific characteristics of environmental financing such as for climate change, biodiversity, ocean management and pollution while expanding their focus in support of better environmental management.
3. Financing institutions, including the Global Environment facility (GEF), the Development for Latin America and Caribbean (CAF) and others need to encourage submission of projects that provide for multiple benefits and build their internal capacities to deal with emerging financing needs.
4.  A network programme calling for integrated financing across Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) is critically needed to ensure every dollar secured and invested are in support of national and local actions to implement the objectives and decisions.
5. UNEP is encouraged to support the outcomes of the meeting to develop principles and approaches for integrated financing and ensure such principles and approaches are used by all stakeholders.

UNEP’s Environmental Policy Unit is currently finalizing full report of the meeting that will be shared with all relevant stakeholder within and across regions