The world’s leading multilateral development banks have published a joint briefing note setting out how development finance can be used to support nature recovery and biodiversity gains.
The document, titled "Identifying Opportunities to Support Biodiversity Objectives Through MDB Operations," was launched at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, the European Investment Bank (EIB) informed on Wednesday.
It argues that existing environmental and social due diligence — the checks lenders carry out to assess and manage risks in projects — can also be used to identify opportunities to conserve, restore and enhance nature.
British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution, has endorsed the approach and is the first national development finance institution to do so.
Three routes to biodiversity gains
The note outlines three pathways for achieving biodiversity gains: shaping project pipelines to support biodiversity objectives; using environmental and social due diligence to identify opportunities for positive outcomes for nature; and promoting landscape- and system-level approaches that address wider environmental challenges, the EIB said.
The publication links its approach to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed in 2022, which calls for action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and encourages financial institutions to align their portfolios with global biodiversity goals.
It also refers to methods for measuring biodiversity outcomes, including “habitat quality-hectares” and the “pressure-state-response” framework — tools used to quantify habitat condition and track environmental pressures, changes in nature, and responses to them.
Fatoumata Bouaré, vice-president and chief risk officer at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), said the initiative was intended to help clients identify opportunities “not only to avoid harm but also to deliver measurable benefits for biodiversity.”
