While financial institutions are funding activities destructive to nature in many sectors, they could soon become a first-class driver for biodiversity conservation. This study captures the critical role that public development banks can play, as they make up for more than 10 % of all yearly private and public financing and have a unique capacity in shifting private financial flows towards sustainability.
Among the 552 public development banks identified globally, not all of them are actually integrating nature in their process and investment strategies. Although multilateral banks and a few bilateral banks follow environmental commitments, apply biodiversity safeguards and are starting to invest in nature, many still do not recognize either biodiversity risks or opportunities and have no investments in nature.
The report identifies opportunities for such banks to become pioneers in financing biodiversity.