The UN Environment Programme and the Global Environment Facility launched a $100 million initiative on Wednesday to accelerate joint climate change and biodiversity action, backed by $700 million in co-financing from development banks and partners.
The Net-Zero Nature-Positive Accelerator Integrated Programme, co-led by UNEP, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Asian Development Bank, aims to drive systemic financial and economic transformation while mobilizing governments, businesses and communities to act.
Linking Climate and Biodiversity Goals
Despite mounting scientific evidence of their interconnectedness, responses to climate change and biodiversity loss remain fragmented. Public budgets are often misaligned, and fiscal systems rarely incentivize private investment at scale.
The new program seeks to close that gap by helping countries integrate climate change and nature objectives into national plans and financial systems. It aligns with the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, engaging all sectors of the economy.
UNEP will support 12 countries—Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Viet Nam—through national projects and a global knowledge-sharing platform.
The UNDP, UN Industrial Development Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization will assist in implementation.
Mobilizing Finance for a Sustainable Future
The initiative was unveiled during the World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings in Washington under the theme “Catalysing Public and Private Finance to Accelerate Net-Zero Nature-Positive Action.”
Finance ministers, development banks, private sector representatives and international organizations attended the high-level event, underscoring the growing alignment between fiscal policy and environmental goals.
Uganda’s Dr. Sam Mugume, co-chair of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, called the program “a timely and transformative initiative.” He said aligning financial systems with environmental priorities “is not just necessary—it is urgent.”
GEF Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez said the funding would help nations “mobilize finance at scale, integrate nature-based solutions into decarbonization strategies, and accelerate the systemic change required for a sustainable future.”
Delivering Measurable Impact
The program targets the restoration or improved management of 1 million hectares of land and aims to cut about 75 million tons of carbon emissions. These outcomes will advance global efforts to address what UNEP calls the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Inger Andersen, UNEP’s executive director, said the initiative would “help 12 countries integrate and accelerate climate change and nature action to increase resilience and set the groundwork for low-carbon growth.” She emphasized the urgency of acting “together—for a net-zero, nature-positive future.”
Scaling Up Under GEF-9
The launch marks a strategic shift in how governments and institutions coordinate environmental action. By combining inclusive governance, cross-sectoral collaboration and innovative financing, UNEP and partners plan to expand the model under the upcoming GEF-9 replenishment cycle.
The Net-Zero Nature-Positive Accelerator Programme, UNEP said, represents a new era of integrated climate change and biodiversity investment — one that links environmental ambition with financial innovation to deliver results this decade.
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