- A new IDB–ECLAC study reveals the scale of Latin America and the Caribbean’s biodiversity financing gap, underscoring the urgent need to mobilize additional resources and realign financial flows and incentives toward nature-positive investments.
- Another publication, from the MDBs Nature Group, offers governments a practical roadmap to develop high-integrity nature credit markets, drawing on experience from four countries.
- A new Natural Capital Implementation Toolkit and MOOC, developed by the IDB and Stanford’s Natural Capital Alliance with GEF support, help countries incorporate nature’s value into policy and investment decisions.
For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), biodiversity is more than an environmental asset. It is essential to the region’s economic development. More than half of the region’s GDP depends on ecosystem services, and about 19% of jobs are in sectors linked to nature. Natural capital supports productive sectors, food and water security, resilience, livelihoods, and human well-being.
Yet biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation put these benefits at risk. Investment in conservation, restoration, and sustainability remains far below what is needed. The region’s countries need better ways to direct finance towards priority ecosystems and measure results, mobilize private capital, and make the value of nature visible in economic planning and investment decisions.
The Seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 17), taking place in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19–30, 2026, provides an opportunity to advance this work. Building on the progress at COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, global leaders, policymakers, financial institutions, international organizations, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society representatives will gather to assess progress and mobilize the partnerships and investments needed to achieve global biodiversity goals.
In 2026, the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) and its partners have advanced practical approaches to financing conservation and integrating natural capital into development. In collaboration with governments, other multilateral development banks (MDBs) and partners such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Stanford University’s Natural Capital Alliance, the Bank has developed new knowledge products and tools to help countries turn biodiversity commitments into action.
At COP17, the IDB Group will showcase a set of complementary resources that address three closely linked challenges in biodiversity finance. These resources aim to improve understanding of the scale of the biodiversity finance gap, expand the range of financing solutions available to help close it, and integrate natural capital considerations into decision-making processes so that investments can deliver lasting environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Together, they provide a roadmap for moving from analysis to action. Let's take a closer look.
How much financing does the region need to conserve, restore and sustainably use its biodiversity? And how can it mobilize those resources?
An upcoming study developed jointly by the ECLAC and the IDB, The Biodiversity Financing Gap in Latin America and the Caribbean, provides one of the first comprehensive regional estimates of this gap. It adapts the methodology used in the Paulson Institute’s global Financing Nature study to the region’s economic, ecological, and institutional context.
The study explores how strong public financing, private investment, and international cooperation can help close this gap. It also examines how redirecting existing financial flows and incentives, alongside innovative financial instruments, could reduce the gap toward 2030.
These findings provide a clearer picture of the scale of investment needed and where financing should be directed. But understanding the gap is only the first step. Closing it will require practical mechanisms that can attract and channel capital toward measurable biodiversity outcomes while aligning with national priorities.
Nature credits can help mobilize finance for measurable conservation and restoration outcomes. To deliver credible results, these approaches need to respond to a country’s priorities and have the right conditions in place. Governments need to assess where credits can add value, who would finance them, and how to ensure benefits are shared fairly. Addressing these questions is essential before scaling.
To help governments navigate these decisions, the MDBs Nature Technical Working Group on Nature Credits will be releasing a new policy brief called Opportunities, Challenges and the Road to Scale: Practical Guidance for Governments, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and National Development Banks (NDBs).
Authored by Ziranjiti, in collaboration with the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB) and the Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA), it provides a practical pathway to assess readiness, identify viable uses for nature credits, and build on existing policies and institutions to mobilize public, private, and philanthropic finance toward measurable nature-positive outcomes.
Drawing on four country case studies from Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, and Thailand, the publication illustrates how different policy, institutional and market contexts shape the approaches countries can take.
Together, these experiences demonstrate how nature credit markets can expand the toolbox for biodiversity finance. Yet mobilizing resources is only part of the equation. Countries also need the capacity, data, and decision-making frameworks to recognize nature as an economic asset, and incorporate its value into policy and investment choices.
Integrating the value of nature into policy and investment decisions requires practical tools, technical capacity, and approaches that can be adapted across countries and sectors. At COP17, the IDB will present new resources developed with Stanford University’s Natural Capital Alliance and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF): a practical implementation toolkit, a self-paced online course, and a series of country case studies and reports. This work builds on the IDB–GEF partnership, which supports both technical capacity and financing solutions for conservation.
First, the Implementation Toolkit for Scaling Natural Capital Approaches brings together step-by-step guidance, assessment tools, case studies and training materials. It helps governments and practitioners select methods suited to their development challenges and institutional contexts and uses the findings to inform policy, planning and investment decisions (available in English and Spanish).
Second, the self-paced Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Natural Capital for Development: Valuation, Investment and Policy, complements the toolkit with practical training in natural capital assessment, valuation and accounting. Through applied methods and real-world examples, participants learn how to incorporate nature’s benefits into policy and investment decisions across sectors (available in English and Spanish).
Third, country reports and case studies demonstrate how natural capital approaches are informing the financing of protected areas and decisions that increase nature’s benefits to people, from water and energy security to flood protection and livelihoods.
The country reports are available in English and Spanish about Belize, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile. Case studies are about Belize, Colombia, and Chile. These publications provide a blueprint for how LAC countries are actively converting ecosystem services data into action via green bonds, targeted infrastructure investments, and resilient policy frameworks.
Together, the toolkit, online course, and country evidence offer a practical pathway for moving from awareness of nature's value to its systematic integration into public policy, planning, and investment decisions.
Conserving, restoring and sustainably using biodiversity and natural capital is essential for the region's prosperity, resilience, and long-term development. The three initiatives presented are designed to work together: the financing gap study helps countries understand the scale of the challenge, the nature credit roadmap explores new ways to mobilize resources, and the natural capital toolkit and training program help decision-makers incorporate nature's value into policies and investments. Together, they move the conversation from identifying the problem to financing and implementing solutions at scale.
Join the IDB Group and its partners at COP17 to explore these publications and tools and discuss their application across the region.