OECD at the UN Biodiversity Conference 2026 (CBD COP17)

• Biodiversity financing for the implementation of the GBF: Results and lessons learned from the development of National Biodiversity Finance Plans
  13:15 (AMT) | Room Parz - Contact Group 4
  Hosts: IUCN | European Commission | Belgium | Finland | the Netherlands | Luxembourg | OECD | UNDP
  This session shared experiences and lessons learned from Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in developing National Biodiversity Finance Plans using the UNDP BIOFIN methodology, alongside insights from Kazakhstan and other developing countries participating in the BIOFIN programme. It explored challenges, opportunities and innovative approaches to mobilising public and private finance, including biodiversity credits, nature-based solutions and the reform of subsidies harmful to biodiversity. The session also presented findings from a recent OECD report, Mobilising Public and Private Finance for Biodiversity: Good Practices in Unlocking Capital for Nature, and highlighted lessons that can support resource mobilisation for the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
  OECD speaker: Katia Karousakis, Biodiversity Team Lead, Environment Directorate
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• Climate-smart, conservation agriculture as a tool for biodiversity preservation in the Eastern Partnership countries
  13:15 (AMT) | Room Gyumri - Contact Group 6
  Hosts: RECC | GIZ | OECD
  This session showcased field-tested climate-smart agricultural practices that can support agricultural biodiversity, including integrated pest management, efficient irrigation, the use of climate-resilient and local varieties and biodiversity-friendly land management. Drawing on experience from across the Eastern Partnership and demonstration work in the South Caucasus, the event highlighted practical approaches and evidence that can contribute to progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework, including Targets 4, 10 and 11. It also highlighted the role of local varieties and the knowledge of farming communities in conserving agricultural biodiversity and supporting ecosystems.
  OECD speaker: Olga Olson, Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate
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Wetlands as natural water infrastructure for delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
18:15 (AMT) | Ashtarak - NGOs Group meeting room - Block 2, 3rd floor
Hosts: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands | IWMI | Wetlands International | IUCN | BirdLife International | WWF
Co-hosts: Netherlands | Kenya | Sri Lanka
This side event positioned wetlands as essential natural water infrastructure underpinning water, climate, land and biodiversity systems, building on recent international dialogues and emerging scientific guidance. As countries prepare for the first global review of collective progress under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, it provided a dedicated space for Parties to share country, basin and subnational experiences and explore practical approaches to integrating wetlands into NDCs, NBSAPs and other national planning and reporting frameworks. Discussions highlighted the hydrological, ecological and socio-economic functions of wetlands; the role of national wetland inventories, Earth observation and improved monitoring; and pathways to scale up conservation and restoration through financing, capacity development, scientific and technical co-operation, and knowledge management. The session also identified opportunities to strengthen coherence across the CBD, Convention on Wetlands, UNCCD and UNFCCC, and to advance biodiversity mainstreaming and integrated water–climate–land action.
OECD speaker: Edward Perry, Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate
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• Official OECD-led side event on Scaling biodiversity incentives and finance: Tracking progress and accelerating action
  13:15 (AMT) | Lori - Meeting Room 4 - Block 2, 3rd floor
  Hosts: OECD | Armenia | European Commission (EC) | France | United Kingdom | Colombia
  This side event brought together perspectives from the OECD, Armenia, Colombia, the European Commission, France, the United Kingdom and the Asian Development Bank to showcase the latest evidence and policy developments on biodiversity finance and biodiversity-positive incentives. Discussions explored trends in public and private biodiversity finance, international development co-operation and emerging instruments and approaches across the real economy and financial sector. The event also highlighted good practices, practical experiences and lessons learned in scaling up biodiversity finance and designing incentives that support the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, while identifying opportunities for strengthened international collaboration and accelerated action towards the 2030 goals and targets.
  OECD speakers: 
  Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
  Edward Perry, Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate
  Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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• Trade and biodiversity in focus: Policy pathways to delivering the KMGBF targets
  18:15 (AMT) | Talin - Side-event Room 1
  Hosts: UNCTAD | CBD | OECD
  Building on work by UNCTAD, the CBD Secretariat and the OECD, this side event explored the links between trade, biodiversity and the bioeconomy and considered how trade policies can support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It presented evidence, data, tools and approaches on trade-biodiversity linkages, including insights from OECD work on the environmental outlook and ongoing work on trade and biodiversity. The event also discussed opportunities, risks and policy pathways for better aligning trade and biodiversity while supporting sustainable development. It provided a platform for exchange among governments, international organisations, the private sector, academia, Indigenous Peoples and local communities and civil society on practical approaches to supporting biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit-sharing.
  OECD speaker: Shunta Yamaguchi, Senior Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate
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• Yerevan Roundtable on Rights-Based and Inclusive Conservation Funding
  16:00–19:00 (AMT)
  Hosts: Synchronicity Earth | Forest Peoples Programme | CBD Women’s Caucus | Global Greengrants Fund
  This Roundtable explored what rights-based and inclusive biodiversity finance looks like in practice, particularly whether funding initiatives are shifting decision-making power, improving access to resources and delivering tangible results for rights-holders. The discussion also examined the drivers of progress, persistent challenges and how different initiatives can learn from one another and support each other’s efforts. The Roundtable was structured around brief contributions to encourage an open exchange, drawing on participants’ experiences and perspectives.
  OECD speaker: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

• Financing the agricultural transition: unlocking solutions to deliver Target 10 of the Kunming-Montreal GBF
  11:00- 12:00 (AMT) | Food & Agriculture Pavilion, Blue Zone
  Host: Institut de la Finance Durable (IFD)
  Partners: Alliance Bioversity-CIAT | CDP Foundation | Crédit Agricole | OECD
  Agriculture is central to food security, competitiveness, biodiversity protection and climate adaptation, yet current models can pose significant risks to nature, and a significant share of public and private money still supports practices with negative environmental impacts. Transition pathways are already emerging at farm level, including agroecological practices, diversification, organic conversion, agroforestry and on-farm renewable energy. They are supported by a growing range of public and private financial tools, from targeted public incentives and Payments for Ecosystem Services to blended finance, green loans, value-chain contracts and performance-linked instruments. These tools aim to make sustainable practices more profitable, reduce investment costs, manage risks, and widen farmers’ access to affordable finance. This event will explore how these pathways and financial solutions can be scaled up to achieve Target 10 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It will highlight promising transition pathways and the finance that can support them, including the role of development finance and development co-operation in developing countries, and identify the key conditions for scaling up agricultural transition finance while ensuring viable and fair remuneration for farmers.
  OECD speaker: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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• How to Enable Sustainable Finance When Borrowers Have No Environmental Data
  11:45- 12:45 (AMT) | Blue Zone, Armenia Pavilion
  Host: Meghrik Ayityan | Triple I
  Partners: Armenia | OECD | Cambridge University | NBSAP Accelerator Partnership | NDC Partnership | National Mortgage Company
  The world has committed to mobilising 200 billion dollars a year for biodiversity by 2030, yet much of that capital cannot reach the farms and small businesses that shape land use, because lenders cannot see their environmental footprint. This panel brings together international policy, national strategy, banking practice and assurance expertise to answer one practical question: how do we move finance to borrowers who have no environmental data, starting now?
  OECD speaker: Juan Casado-Asensio, Development Co-operation Directorate
  

• The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity: Reforming incentives for economic and supply chain resilience
  12:00 (AMT) | Main room, Nature Positive Pavilion
  Hosts: Business for Nature | Finance for Biodiversity Foundation
  This session will demonstrate how public finance can be adapted to reward sustainable practices, maximising the value of existing budgets. Speakers will explore how national co-design processes can catalyse investment, protect producers and livelihoods and make sustainable choices the most profitable option.
  OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate

• Business and Biodiversity Forum
  COP 17 Blue Zone 
  Hosts: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) | Armenia 
  The seventh Business and Biodiversity Forum will provide a platform to move the conversation from ambition to implementation. Building on the findings of both the Global Review and the IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment, the Forum will examine how governments, businesses and financial institutions can work together to accelerate implementation of the KMGBF and address the systemic barriers that continue to hinder progress. Rather than focusing solely on commitments, the Forum will emphasize practical solutions, transformative business leadership and the enabling conditions required to embed biodiversity into corporate strategies, investment decisions, value chains and economic systems. Through this dialogue, the Forum aims to demonstrate how business can become a driving force in achieving the objectives of the KMGBF, particularly in relation to Targets 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19.
  OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
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• From a to c: Delivering on Target 19 through private finance "Moving to business unusual for biodiversity finance"
  18:15 (AMT) | Talin - Side-event Room 1
  Hosts: Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg | OECD | FMO | FSD
  This session will bring together businesses, financial institutions, governments, development co-operation and civil society to share practical approaches for, and successes in, scaling up biodiversity-positive investments such as nature-based solutions. The discussion is built around the three entry points identified in the OECD report Scaling Up Private Action for Nature: strengthening enabling environments,  promoting private sector engagement and mobilising private finance. Speakers will highlight the innovative financial instruments, partnerships and policy incentives needed to shift biodiversity finance to “business unusual”. In a highly interactive format, six pitches from governments, international banks, local implementers, companies and others will anchor the discussion, covering both successful cases and those still running into barriers. The session aims to move from high-level commitments to scalable capital flows for nature, with partnerships at the heart of these efforts.
  OECD speakers: Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
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• Finance and Biodiversity Day
  Room CG3 (Blue Zone)
  Hosts: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) | Armenia
  The Finance and Biodiversity Day will bring together a globally representative group of finance sector participants to turn the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework into investable opportunities. Shaped by recent private sector dialogues, this year's program focuses on closing the gap between commitment and implementation: building credible pipelines of nature-smart projects, providing policy certainty in high-biodiversity-risk markets, developing decision-useful data, matching instruments to country context, and addressing capacity constraints.
  OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
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• Rio Changemakers Roundtable: Mobilising private finance for biodiversity and nature-positive action
  14:00 - 15:00 (AMT) |  IGOs Room, Gayane - level 1, Meridian Expo and Event Center
  Hosts: The Global Landscapes Forum and Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity
  Partners: WRI | Biodiv'Earth Foundation | CLARIFI | IFAD | OECD, | Rights and Resources Initiative
  Delivering on global biodiversity goals requires significantly greater flows of private capital into nature-positive solutions, yet investors and financial institutions still struggle to identify credible opportunities, assess biodiversity outcomes, compare projects and manage risk. Convened by the Global Landscapes Forum and Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity on the margins of CBD COP17, this closed-door roundtable will bring together leaders from finance, investment, biodiversity funds, development finance, project development, data providers and the wider nature ecosystem. They will explore how Rio Changemakers, an AI-enabled, science-guided marketplace, can help bridge the gap between capital seeking nature-positive opportunities and projects seeking investment. The discussion will examine what makes biodiversity investable, where the investment pipeline breaks down and what the platform would need to deliver for investors, funds and project developers. It aims to clarify private-sector needs and barriers and set priority requirements for biodiversity data, project assessment and investment readiness.
• OECD speakers:
  Dominique Blaquier, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate
  Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

• Financing Gender-Responsive Biodiversity Action: Advancing Women’s Access to Funds
  16:50 (AMT) 
  Hosts: CBD Women | Global Forest Coalition
  This panel will focus on financing the implementation of GPA Outcome 3, particularly Objective 3.6 on adequate human and financial resources for gender-responsive implementation of the KMGBF. The discussion will examine persistent inequalities in access to biodiversity finance and explore how gender-responsive budgeting, targeted funding and direct-access mechanisms can help ensure resources reach grassroots women’s organisations, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and people of African descent. 
  OECD speaker: Juan Casado Asensio, Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

• From principles to international cooperation: Mobilising biodiversity finance through high-integrity nature credits
  18:15 (AMT) | Jermuk - African States meeting room
  Hosts: EC | France | Peru
  This high-level side event will explore the potential of high-integrity crediting approaches for nature and biodiversity to mobilise private investment towards nature-positive outcomes. It will mark the launch of the Friends of Credits for Nature and Biodiversity, an inclusive government-led platform for international co-operation on high-integrity crediting approaches for nature and biodiversity. The event will also consider how these approaches can connect with National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, biodiversity finance plans and the GBF monitoring framework, including through credible information on resources mobilised and nature outcomes, while avoiding double counting and ensuring alignment with national priorities, safeguards, transparency and monitoring systems.
  OECD speaker: Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate
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