Finance for nature continues to fall significantly short of what is required to bend the curve and restore biodiversity at scale. This session presents the first collective practical application of the MDB Common Principles for Tracking Nature Finance and related taxonomy, and the Financing Nature: A Practitioner’s Guide to Results Metrics Selection. It will examine how MDBs are putting these frameworks into practice, and our collective contribution to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Of particular relevance will be Goal D and Target 19 of the GBF, and the role of partnership in scaling this work among multilateral and bilateral agencies, foundations, and civil society.

MDBs launched the first version of the Common Principles in 2023, in response to the 2021 MDB Joint Statement on Nature, People and Planet, which recognized that tackling poverty, climate change, and the drivers of nature loss are inextricably linked, and affirmed MDB commitments to mainstream nature into their policies, analyses, assessments, advice, investments, and operations in direct support of member countries' commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). In 2025, MDBs jointly published updated Common Principles, reflecting (i) the importance of tracking the full spectrum of MDB investments instrumental to GBF implementation, including the economy-wide transformation required; (ii) lessons learned from piloting nature finance across MDB financial flows and tracking systems; and (iii) a new MDB Common Nature Finance Taxonomy of eligible activities across sectors, accompanied by Guidance on Results Metrics Selection.

At the event, the MDB Nature Group will launch a report titled Common Principles, Taxonomy and Metrics: a voluntary high-level status report. The report is a collaborative effort to publish MDBs' progress on the application of the Common Principles, Nature Finance Taxonomy, and Guidance on Results Metrics. It captures high-level information on the methodology, areas of focus, and early insights from initial implementation.

At the same time, global assessments – including the Paulson Institute's Financing Nature work – continue to show the gap widening, with the most recent interim update estimating the global biodiversity financing gap at approximately US$942 billion annually. This session is intended to set the MDB report's findings against that backdrop, highlighting collective activities and significant individual bank efforts. The session will also examine where structural and operational bottlenecks remain, and what is realistically required to close the gap by 2030.

The event will be moderated by the UK Special Representative for Nature and will include an introduction by the ADB as the current MDB Nature Group Chair, followed by a keynote presentation from the Paulson Institute to provide an update on the Nature Financing Gap, followed by a brief introduction to the released report by ADB, followed a ‘lightning’ panel discussion among the MDBs on the individual and collective efforts included in the report and how they are responding to the challenge as presented by the Paulson Institute. A closing message of support will also be provided by the CBD secretariat.