IDB ATTENDS COP15 AS THE LEADING MDB FOR NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is committed to increasing its nature-positive finance and will continue its process to develop a green finance target.  The IDB will also continue leading work with other multilateral development banks (MDBs) to develop a commonly agreed definition of nature-positive finance and a tracking methodology for the second quarter of 2023.

The IDB announced its progress during the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15), which is being held in Montreal, Canada, on December 7 to 19. A high-level IDB delegation is attending the conference to showcase its biodiversity and natural capital work as the leading MDB to advance this agenda in the region.

A nature-positive economy can unlock $10 trillion in business opportunities by transforming the food, infrastructure, and energy sectors, which are responsible for almost 80% of nature loss.

“At the IDB, we understand that supporting nature-positive investments is critical for the economies and people of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the global climate target of net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Juan Pablo Bonilla, Manager of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector.

The IDB is working to implement the IDB-led MDB Joint Statement on Nature, People, and Planet from COP26.  From 2015 to 2020, the IDB invested over $800 million in 28 projects with nature-based solutions components.  These projects leveraged an additional $437 million in financing from partners, amounting to nearly $1.25 billion in total project financing. 

As part of an alignment with the UN’s Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the Bank has developed an action plan for mainstreaming natural capital and biodiversity across the institution for approval in early 2023, following the finalization of the GBF. 

The IDB will be the first MDB with a dedicated natural capital and biodiversity mainstreaming strategy. This builds upon existing work to integrate biodiversity into the country planning processes, now underway in 10 countries.

In addition, through concessional resources, the Bank supports countries in mainstreaming biodiversity across their governments, valuing natural capital, and integrating nature into planning processes.  The IDB  will accelerate this work to support the region in implementing the GBF and is initiating a process to review the portfolio's exposure to biodiversity loss.

The Bank approved a $100 million debt-for-nature swap project in Barbados that channels 100% of savings to conservation and marks a significant milestone for the IDB in helping its member countries to leverage innovative financial solutions to address biodiversity and climate change.  The IDB was the first MDB to use such instruments and has several similar transactions in the pipeline.

Through the Natural Capital Lab (NCL), the IDB continues to work with partners such as France and the United Kingdom to deploy funds for ecosystem conservation, other forms of conservation, and sustainable use. The NCL has secured 24 million euros from France plus 13 million pounds sterling to finance strategic and innovative operations that have a positive impact on the natural capital of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Through the Amazon Initiative, the IDB is supporting Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Suriname, incorporating regenerative activities in the Amazon Basin. Finally, the IDB continues to support innovative finance approaches with IDB Invest, such as sustainability bonds, and with IDB Lab, such as early-stage finance, new natural asset classes, tokenization of natural assets, biodiversity habitat banks, biodiversity credits, and digital platforms.