The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) project, with the aim of strengthening public and private investment in the protection of the biodiversity of the Dominican Republic. BIOFIN seeks to close the financial gap for the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). To this end, it proposes innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms that align national priorities with the commitments of the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The initiative is supported by a network of international donors, including the European Union, the governments of Germany, Norway, Flanders, France, Switzerland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It is also supported by a strategic alliance with global actors such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative, the ValuES project supporting ecosystem services, and other partners of the United Nations System. The project launch event began with welcoming remarks by the director of Financial Mechanisms of the Vice Ministry of Climate Change and Sustainability, Iván Cruz, who provided a global framework for the project and explained that “the objective of BIOFIN is to contribute to the global objective of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which seeks the design and implementation of innovative financial solutions that allow mobilizing resources for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.” Speaking on behalf of the Vice Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability, Ana Emilia Pimentel, Cruz expressed that “in the Dominican Republic, the BIOFIN project represents a key tool to advance the national vision of biodiversity financing. Our conservation goals must be aligned with public and private investments.” She added that “this project invites us to identify how we finance conservation and how we can align our fiscal, budgetary, and investment policies with the commitments made at the international level.” On her part, UNDP Resident Representative Ana María Díaz highlighted the importance of the BIOFIN project for its global reach. “This global UNDP initiative, present in more than 130 countries, seeks to identify how public and private resources are being used in terms of biodiversity, and how we can mobilize more and better investments to protect our natural capital. This implies identifying new sources of innovative financing and designing financial instruments adapted to key sectors, where sustainability can be a competitive advantage,” she indicated. Also, during her intervention, the Director of Marine Biodiversity Hernández emphasized the fundamental role that BIOFIN will play in the effective implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy and its Action Plan (ENBPA), highlighting that BIOFIN will be the catalyst that will translate the goals of the National Biodiversity Strategy and its Action Plan into concrete and sustainable actions over time. In the country, BIOFIN will be implemented during the period 2025-2027, in parallel with the update of the ENBPA. As part of this process, the first National Biodiversity Financing Plan (BFP) will be designed, with a view to establishing a sustainable and strategic framework for mobilizing resources for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the country. In addition, it will have a close articulation with national priorities, through joint work with the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development, Ministry of Finance, among others. This project is strategically linked to other key UNDP initiatives that seek a sustainable transformation of the country. These include Natural Capital, focused on valuing ecosystems as the basis for a green economy; Climate Promise, which supports the fulfillment of the climate commitments assumed by the Dominican Republic; the Insurance Risk Finance Facility initiative, which aims to enable the establishment of financial mechanisms, including insurance, for resilience to risks; and EcoHarmony, which introduces innovative models such as Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM), strengthening community participation and environmental governance. The event was attended by the Director of Biodiversity of the Ministry of Environment, Mariana Hernández; the officer of the Environmental Sustainability and Resilience Unit of UNDP, Pierre Candelón; authorities and expert technicians from the entity; as well as representatives of civil society and the private sector. With the launch of this project, the country joins more than 130 nations that are part of the global BIOFIN platform and strengthens its capacity to mobilize resources to conserve its natural wealth, reduce biodiversity loss, and move towards a more sustainable economy.
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