Conference of the Parties (COP28): Multilateral development banks publish first common principles for nature-positive finance

LUXEMBOURG CITY, Luxembourg, December 9, 2023/ — New principles will guide multilateral development banks’ support for countries and the private sector in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; For the first time, multilateral development banks define common principles and the criteria for identifying and tracking nature-positive finance; Announcement follows COP26 Joint MDB Statement on Nature, People and Planet.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and fellow multilateral development banks (MDBs) have today published (https://apo-opa.co/3RdNOeQ) common principles for identifying and tracking nature-positive finance. The announcement comes on nature day of the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The common principles aim to increase nature-positive finance by mainstreaming nature in MDB operations and investments in a systematic manner. This is one of the key deliverables from the COP26 Joint MDB Statement on Nature, People and Planet (https://apo-opa.co/4aeV2ba), in which multilateral development banks collectively committed to step up efforts for the protection, restoration and sustainable use of nature in support of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Nature plays a critical role in providing resources and services that underpin the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and are essential to solving development challenges such as health, jobs and livelihoods, inequality, climate change, food security and fragility.

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, said: “Scaling up nature positive finance is key to solving the climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution crises. With the common principles for tracking nature-positive finance, MDBs are implementing a key deliverable from their joint statement on nature. At the EIB, from 2024 onwards, we will be integrating the common principles into our existing environmental sustainability tracking methodology. In doing so, we are committed to working with countries and the private sector to scale up nature positive investments worldwide.”

The common principles will help guide the development and implementation of multilateral development banks’ respective frameworks and internal methodologies for tracking nature-positive finance as they support countries and the private sector in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in a systematic manner.

The common principles will also facilitate comparability across multilateral development banks in their respective screening and tracking processes.

They will enable the EIB to better assess whether its finance is expected to deliver a meaningful and measurable positive contribution to nature, and to communicate such nature-positive outcomes. In addition, the common principles may be informative for other investors, including capital markets and governments.