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Global finance for biodiversity has grown significantly over the past 10 years and is now estimated at between US$78 billion and $147 billion per year. However, it is greatly outweighed by public subsidies and broader financial flows that drive biodiversity loss, which are estimated at between US$500 billion and several trillion per year. Furthermore, while the contributions of Indigenous peoples and local communities are widely recognised as critically important for protecting biodiversity, they are often negatively impacted by biodiversity finance, and receive little direct support for their efforts.

This briefing provides an overview of biodiversity finance and makes the case for increasing support to customary rights-holders. It additionally describes the financial flows driving biodiversity destruction and shows how they harm local people as well as nature, and outlines six key areas where the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework could increase the effectiveness of biodiversity finance by building on common ground with customary rights-holders.

This briefing has been produced as part of a series co-authored by Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and partner organisations to expand on, and explore the policy implications of, the research and findings in the 2nd edition of the Local Biodiversity Outlooks. It is intended to contribute towards the evidence-based negotiations and dialogues towards the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Read the briefing.