The interconnected crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental degradation continue to threaten economic prosperity, resilience, and sustainable development worldwide. Countries have made ambitious commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—yet translating them into bankable, on-the-ground investment remains this decade's defining challenge. CBD COP17 sharpens that challenge: it is the first Global Review of GBF implementation, and delegates will look less for new pledges than for evidence that partnerships and financing models are working. 

Nature is increasingly recognized as central to the solution. Investment in ecosystem conservation, restoration, and nature-based solutions (NbS) can deliver biodiversity, climate, food security, disaster-risk, and livelihood benefits simultaneously. Scaling that investment, however, requires stronger partnerships, better project preparation, and de-risking instruments that make nature bankable—coordinated action among governments, multilateral and bilateral development partners, and the private sector. 

The European Union’s (EU) Global Gateway Strategy and the European Green Deal have opened new space for exactly this kind of collaboration with multilateral development banks. At the same time, ASEAN and the wider Asia and Pacific region face rising demand for nature-positive investment that can advance biodiversity, climate, and development objectives together, through instruments that link public and private capital to measurable nature outcomes. 

Launched at COP28, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Nature Solutions Finance Hub (NSFH) was created to close this gap: its mandate is to catalyze $5 billion in nature-positive investment by 2030 across Asia and the Pacific, using blended finance, project preparation support, and market-building tools to turn NbS into investable assets. 

In December 2025, the European Commission and ADB signed a formal agreement for a €15 million blended finance package to NSFH—€5 million in technical assistance and €10 million in investment grants—which is among the Hub’s first major catalytic contributions, and is ring-fenced for ASEAN countries facing acute biodiversity and climate pressure. 

Ten months on, that partnership has become the anchor for a broader coalition. The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) are engaging as partners; the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) is a key cofinancing partner; and ASEAN institutions are increasingly active in shaping how the Hub’s pipeline is structured and owned regionally. This side event is the first opportunity to bring that coalition together publicly, and to show CBD COP17 delegates what a functioning nature finance partnership looks like in practice.