The European Investment Bank (EIB) and fellow multilateral development banks (MDBs) have jointly released common principles for identifying and monitoring nature-positive finance.
These principles aim to enhance nature-positive finance by systematically integrating nature into MDB operations and investments. This initiative stems from the COP26 Joint MDB Statement on Nature, People, and Planet, wherein multilateral development banks collectively pledged to intensify efforts in safeguarding, restoring, and sustainably utilising nature in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Nature significantly contributes to resources and services essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goals and addressing various developmental challenges, including health, employment, inequality, climate change, food security, and fragility.
“Scaling up nature-positive finance is key to solving the climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution crises,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “With the common principles for tracking nature-positive finance, MDBs are implementing a key deliverable from their joint statement on nature.”
The standard principles will guide the formulation and execution of multilateral development banks’ frameworks and internal methods for tracking nature-positive finance. They will support countries and the private sector in systematically implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Additionally, these principles aim to enhance comparability among multilateral development banks in their screening and tracking processes. They will enable the EIB to evaluate better whether its financing contributes significantly and measurably to nature while communicating these positive outcomes. Furthermore, these principles may serve as informative guidelines for other investors, including capital markets and governments.
