The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), adopted by governments in 2022, set an ambitious global agenda to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 in order to sustain a healthy planet for all people by 2050. In 2025 at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), governments approved a resource mobilization strategy that explicitly identifies multilateral development banks (MDBs) as central to mobilizing the scale of finance needed—$200 billion annually by 2030—to deliver on the KMGBF.

MDBs have the positioning and financial firepower to help reach this goal, and as organizations focused on supporting development, nature loss and its knock-on effects should be a key concern. Declining biodiversity and ecosystem services pose systemic risks to macroeconomic stability and sustainable development, threatening an estimated $2.7 trillion (2.5%) of global GDP annually by 2030.

To account for these impacts, MDBs should strive to fully incorporate nature considerations into their processes and operations through nature mainstreaming. When successful, nature mainstreaming in MDBs can significantly contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss and can transform how banks engage with clients to support transitions toward nature-positive, resilient, and inclusive economic growth.

This paper provides the first stocktake of how nature mainstreaming in MDBs can align their core institutional practices with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The paper uses a tailored analytical framework to systematically assess current MDB approaches to nature mainstreaming against a synthesis of suggested actions, which are paraphrased from COP16 Decision 16/34 on resource mobilization, including the revised resource mobilization strategy. The paper’s recommendations are based on findings derived from operationalizing this framework with a gray literature review, semistructured interviews with experts, and data analysis using the NatureAlign tool by NatureFinance.

Key Findings:

  • Most MDBs include nature as an objective, pillar, or priority in their overarching institutional strategy. Only one has a nature finance target. None has articulated the role of MDBs in achieving Target 19 of the KMGBF.
  • Standardized, nature-related disclosures (e.g., by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) remain limited by MDBs at the portfolio level. Yet analysis conducted within this paper determines that, on average, 33 percent of the financial commitments of MDBs are in sectors with material nature-related dependencies and impacts.
  • MDBs have enhanced internal and external collaborations to address their internal capacity gaps. However, capacity constraints remain a critical barrier to integrating nature considerations consistently across their activities.
  • MDBs are operationalizing common principles for tracking nature-related investments and developing shared indicators to harmonize impact reporting through a formal working group.
  • MDBs face varying degrees of exposure to nature-related impacts and potential risks that, based on analysis within this paper, are correlated with factors such as regional/ contextual variations and higher volumes of investments to certain large economies.
  • MDBs support governments to invest in nature by valuing ecosystem benefits, advancing transboundary partnerships, and supporting cross-sectoral initiatives. However, these are often approached as piecemeal opportunities because broader institutional integration remains limited.
  • MDBs can improve the accessibility of nature-related international finance by partnering with national/ subnational financial institutions, local governments, civil society, and Indigenous people and local communities. However, detailed data to accurately track beneficiaries remain limited.
  • MDBs combine different modalities and financial instruments to design and implement nature-related investments alongside bilateral and multilateral partners. However, lack of standard financial instruments, diverse local natural characteristics, and insufficient enabling environments in client countries remain persistent challenges to scaling investments in nature.

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