Taking Bold Steps for a Peaceful, Prosperous Relationship with Nature
In 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) created a set of goals that has bound countries to work together toward a future in which we protect, restore, prosper, and share the benefits of nature fairly. Since then, countries, international organizations, and private sector partners across the globe have made bold commitments to implement this framework. The World Bank Group is following suit, taking significant action by growing its investment in projects and advanced analytics to support countries as they integrate nature considerations into decision making, economic policies, and development programs.
The World Bank Group is focusing on quality data, working across landscapes and sectors, forging partnerships, and opening new avenues for financing to make these goals a reality. To address today’s needs and meet the challenges of tomorrow, the Bank Group is becoming faster, easier to navigate, and a more effective partner to governments, the private sector, and local communities.
The World Bank Group supporting countries to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
Foundational Data
Understanding and measuring the value of nature is fundamental, so policymakers and companies have the information they need to make informed decisions. As a Knowledge Bank, the World Bank Group is bringing analytics and information to countries and companies to better account for the value of nature.
To fully understand a country’s wealth – manufactured, natural, and human capital - requires a truly comprehensive tool. The Changing Wealth of Nations captures the value of all assets that generate income and support human well-being to complement GDP, account for the impacts of unsustainable development, and the hidden costs and benefits of different assets.
The Sovereign ESG Data Portal is a powerful tool to help investors understand a country’s effectiveness, risk, and sustainability. Like environmental, social, and governance data in the private sector, the Sovereign ESG Data Portal has curated 135 indicators stretching back 62 years for 211 economies and is one of the most used datasets in sovereign ESG. With this resource, sovereign investors are making better informed decisions that emphasize sustainability over the long term.
Understanding the value of a country's environmental assets is the key to sustainable development and economic growth. The Global Program on Sustainability helps countries integrate sustainability considerations into policies and decision making by providing high quality data on natural resources and ecosystem services and analyzing the development risks and opportunities. For example, Nepal has been the only developing country in the world to double its forest cover - now reaching 45 percent and has nearly tripled its tiger population in the last 15 years. At the core of these successes are the efforts of communities, partnerships, and policies. Coupled with project financing from the World Bank, the Global Program on Sustainability made it possible for Nepal to develop data and tools to measure the contributions of these resources to the economy and consider them in its policy decisions.
New challenges require new concepts, data, and tools in economics. The World Bank Group is making it possible to capture nature on public and private sector balance sheets so informed decisions can be made.
Crossing Landscapes and Sectors
Nature has a profound influence on national decision-making, whether or not we fully grasp its value. In Morocco, oases are vital reservoirs of natural wealth and crucial for sustaining rural communities. But as temperatures rise and rainfall diminishes, these fragile ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to erosion, degradation, and wildfires. The loss of two-thirds of Morocco’s oases over the past century is a troubling trend the Morocco Sustainable Oasis Ecosystems Management Project aims to reverse. By employing native species and revitalizing traditional water infrastructure, this initiative stabilizes water resources, draws on local knowledge, and empowers communities to proactively safeguard their environment.
Miguel Gonçalves, the Park Administrator, Maputo National Park, Mozambique.
Miguel Gonçalves, the Park Administrator, Maputo National Park, Mozambique.
Mozambique, home to a staggering array of unique species, has implemented a comprehensive conservation strategy covering a quarter of its land and sea.
Partnering with the World Bank under the Mozambique Conservation Areas for Biodiversity and Development (MozBio) project, Mozambique has significantly bolstered biodiversity protection across 1.8 million hectares, including financing the reintroduction of 5,000 different species of wildlife in the Maputo National Park. In one year alone, the entire Mozambique conservation areas network generated over $3 million in tourism revenue and has created 1,500 jobs. Miguel Gonçalves, the Park Administrator in Maputo National Park working with the local communities in the area, sees the impact that the project is having through livelihood and infrastructure work to reduce pressures on the park, and set up community ownership of one the park lodges.
“We believe that, over time, all these processes, all these initiatives, all this community engagement, are leading us toward a more efficient natural resource management.”
Alongside protecting and restoring natural assets, the World Bank is also investing in nature-based economies, so the benefits of conservation are shared with the people who depend most on nature for their health and livelihoods.
In destinations with rich natural assets but limited economic opportunities, nature-based tourism can create jobs and develop more opportunities in rural economies. Spending by tourists has both direct and indirect impacts as it flows through a community.
The World Bank not only supports nature-based tourism initiatives, but also invests in new tools and knowledge to measure the local economic impacts of nature-based tourism. In Fiji, a study estimating the economic impact of nature-based tourism on three destinations in the Mamanuca Islands found that tourism created 8,304 direct and indirect jobs, employing 13% of the local population on the islands and nearby mainland. With a fuller understanding of the economic value created by nature tourism, policymakers and planners are in a better position to manage Fiji’s natural assets.
Partnering for Impact
Across the Amazon rainforest, camera traps are silent observers of the region’s rich wildlife. As part of efforts to protect and sustainably manage this diverse ecosystem, the World Bank-led, Global Environment Facility-funded Amazon Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) Program supports communities’ use of technology for monitoring wildlife. Movement-triggered camera traps, easily deployed and monitored by trained local community members, generate vast amounts of valuable wildlife data. However, this can be overwhelming to process.
To tackle this, ASL partnered with Wildlife Insights, a cloud and artificial intelligence-enabled platform involving Conservation International, WWF, Wildlife Conservation Society, Google, Smithsonian, and others. This alliance resulted in the creation of the ASL Data Explorer tool, which enables local stakeholders linked to the ASL to efficiently explore and analyze camera trap data. The tool provides vital species information and facilitates assessments of conservation efforts.
Concrete examples of how this technology is used by communities and conservation area managers include monitoring species under threat, informing management plans, evaluating biodiversity outcomes, and contributing to the creation of an ecological corridor for jaguars that enriches conservation efforts across the Amazon.
Partnerships for impact happen between organizations and they happen within local communities.
Johnella Bradshaw and Shanna Challenger have been friends since meeting in primary school and now work together as conservation scientists in two of Antigua and Barbuda’s Key Biodiversity Areas.
“Growing up, people weren’t telling us to be marine ecologists; people weren’t telling us to go out and study the environment”, recalls Bradshaw, of the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) in Antigua and Barbuda.
They are leaders in locally led conservation projects funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) to care for and value vital ecosystems for the long-term benefit of people and wildlife. Together they, and citizen scientists trained and mobilized by CEPF, are helping with the comeback of the Antiguan Racer, a snake found only in Antigua and Barbuda and once declared extinct because of invasive species and human pressures but now on the rebound. The project is accelerating local conservation with a deliberate focus on gender and youth inclusivity. Bradshaw and Challenger are not only pleased with their scientific accomplishments but are also excited to be part of shaping a new generation of Caribbean conservationists and conservation careers. “We’ve been going along and making inroads,” notes Challenger, “but this feels like we have been able to fill up our tank, put the pedal to the metal and go full steam ahead.”
“Having this work locally led, not having somebody come in and write this for us but doing it ourselves and doing it in a collaborative manner is important,” says Johnella.
“Having this work locally led, not having somebody come in and write this for us but doing it ourselves and doing it in a collaborative manner is important.”
Antiguan Racer Census. Photo credit: Sherrel Charles, EAG.
Antiguan Racer Census. Photo credit: Sherrel Charles, EAG.
Shanna Challenger and Johnella Bradshaw (right), leaders of the locally led conservation projects in Antigua and Barbuda. Photo credit: Sherrel Charles, EAG.
Shanna Challenger and Johnella Bradshaw (right), leaders of the locally led conservation projects in Antigua and Barbuda. Photo credit: Sherrel Charles, EAG.
The World Bank Group is working to invest in nature with partners from the grassroots level to the multilateral level, joining other Multilateral Development Banks to prepare MDB Common Principles for Tracking Nature-Positive Finance. This initiative will help track nature-positive investments delivering positive, measurable gains, as well as those investments that integrate nature in various economic sectors and support a broader cross-sectoral transition towards nature-positive practices.
Mobilizing Finance
Melikaya Phongolo, Community Outreach Officer, Great Fish River Nature Reserve, South Africa
Melikaya Phongolo, Community Outreach Officer, Great Fish River Nature Reserve, South Africa
Over the course of three decades, the rhinoceros population in South Africa declined by 97%. Rhinos are an umbrella species, so impacts to their population affect the entire ecosystem. To address this urgent threat, the World Bank partnered with the Global Environment Facility to create the first Wildlife Conservation Bond. This collaboration has resulted in a $150 million initiative to close the financing gap for rhino protection while also transferring risk of failure to the capital markets. The bond protects 153,000 hectares of rhino habitat, supporting biodiversity and benefiting nearby communities by enhancing economic opportunities through tourism and job creation.
“Even the communities that are surrounding the reserve will benefit from the reserve through job creation. I’m proud of what I’m doing. Protecting black rhinos is more than conservation—it's about uplifting communities.”
Rangers helping rhino in South Africa. Photo credit: Nuveen.
Rangers helping rhino in South Africa. Photo credit: Nuveen.
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and devotes almost 30% of its land to agriculture, making responsible farming practices crucial for environmental sustainability. When Banco do Brasil decided to create a local lending operation for micro, small and medium farmers engaged in no-till agriculture, they partnered with the World Bank Group’s new guarantee platform, house at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). MIGA offered a $1.2 million guarantee for an $800 million commercial lending facility.
Small farmers are integral to the nation’s food supply and rural economies, yet they often face financial and technological barriers to adopting sustainable practices. No-till agriculture is considered a climate-smart agricultural practice that supports coexistence with nature by minimizing soil disturbance and erosion, improving water retention, and promoting soil health. These practices enhance biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground to improve crop yields and resilience.
The MIGA-guaranteed loan is pivotal, providing these farmers with access to the necessary funding for their annual harvesting needs. The revolving nature of the program ensures that farmers can continually meet evolving financial demands and maintain sustainable practices while offering an instrument to reduce risk for the private sector. The approach improves agricultural productivity and contributes to long-term environmental sustainability, making Brazil’s farmland more resilient to climate change and more supportive of biodiversity.
As of June 2024, International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) cumulative bond issuance reached $13.9 billion across 207 green bonds in 21 currencies. A collaboration with BBVA in Colombia has resulted in the world’s first biodiversity bond this year, a $70 million initiative targeting drivers of biodiversity loss and building local technical capacity. The first blue bond in the Philippines is a $100 million initiative for projects that follow the IFC Blue Finance Guidelines. The Guidelines are an important contribution to the broader green bond market with a framework for structuring, evaluating, and monitoring blue bond and blue loan issuances.
The IFC is also making nature-based solutions (NBS) a priority in its work. It is building awareness about NBS business practices among private sector companies and supporting integration of NBS in line with their core operations. By advocating for the commercial benefits of NBS, the IFC can ensure that private companies recognize and adopt NBS for their economic benefits.
Peaceful coexistence with nature is not a single conversation, but one that must be constantly revisited to meet changing needs. Helping countries capitalize on opportunities, address threats and mobilize financing is key to ensuring that any successes we celebrate do not come at the expense of local communities or livelihoods.
Thriving in Harmony with Nature
Ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity hinges upon a biodiverse, resilient planet.
The KMGBF represents an unprecedented aspiration to imagine a better, stronger, and more ambitious way to live in harmony with nature and work together to take national, regional, and local action to achieve it.
As one of the leading financiers of nature globally, the World Bank Group is helping with whole-of-economy changes to make these goals a reality by approaching all development work with a sustainability lens. Because to grow strong, we must grow green.
Photo and video credits: World Bank Group unless otherwise noted.
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