31 March 2026
Today, the Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation celebrates its five‑year anniversary. On this day five years ago, the Foundation began working to support Finance for Biodiversity Pledge signatories to put their Pledge commitments into practice – with the ambitious goal of aligning finance with the protection and restoration of nature.
From Bold Pledge to Global Movement
The groundbreaking collaboration began in 2020, when 26 pioneering financial institutions launched the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, the first global initiative uniting banks, investors, insurers, and asset managers behind a shared commitment to reverse nature loss this decade.
Momentum accelerated in March 2021 with the establishment of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. What began as a group of early adopters has since grown into a powerful coalition: over 200 financial institutions, collectively representing €23 trillion in assets, now call on companies, governments and global leaders to safeguard ecosystems and embed nature into economic decision‑making.
By signing the Pledge, financial institutions commit to shifting ambition into action by:
- Sharing knowledge across the sector;
- Integrating biodiversity into ESG policies and corporate engagement;
- Assessing impacts and dependencies;
- Setting targets;
- Disclosing progress within two years.
Despite global uncertainty and pressures to scale back on sustainability, the number of FfB Pledge signatories and members continues to rise, demonstrating the sector’s mounting recognition that healthy economies depend on healthy ecosystems.
Five Years of Impact: Closing the Knowledge–Action Gap
Over the past five years, the FfB community has become a global reference point for financial institutions seeking to manage nature‑related risks and opportunities and contribute to a nature‑positive future.
Results of the FfB Foundation’s 2025 members benchmarking survey, which was launched at the first ever FfB Summit in December 2025, showed much higher than industry average progress among members and signatories that took part:
- 88% of respondents have conducted biodiversity impact assessments
- 98% of our survey respondents engaging companies on biodiversity
- 67% have assessed dependencies on nature
- 72% are conducting company‑level analyses
- 67% have set biodiversity targets (rising to 80% among FfB members alone)
- 54% have already allocated capital to nature‑positive investments, totaling more than €53 billion.
It showed that institutions are steadily broadening their focus – moving from traditional areas such as deforestation and land degradation to topics such as plastics, chemicals, and wildlife protection. The result is a sector undergoing rapid transformation, with biodiversity shifting from a specialist concern to a core component of sustainable finance.
However, challenges remain. Access to reliable, decision‑ready nature data is cited as the top barrier for 44% of institutions, and only 20% have set concrete growth targets for scaling nature investments – revealing an ambition‑action gap that must be closed.
This lack of accessible and decision-relevant information and measurement approaches was also cited in the February 2026 IPBES assessment report, which sent a clear signal that the tools, knowledge and pathways for change already exist, but that systemic action is needed now. FfB Foundation welcomed the report as a call to action to business, financial institutions, governments and policymakers alike.
However, we also shared that real progress is already being made among our Pledge signatory community; for them the challenge is increasingly not a lack of data, but the need for practical guidance, and the capacity to translate available data and methodologies into meaningful decision-making across different asset classes and financial products.
As we have consistently done in the past, FfB Foundation is already rolling out new working groups, training and programmes, and developing practical guidance to support its community in tackling these evolving challenges.
The Road Ahead: New Capacity, New Tools, New Momentum
One of the new initiatives launched in early 2026 by the FfB Foundation was the FfB Hub, designed to provide financial institutions – whether new or advanced on their biodiversity journey – with the guidance, resources, and collaboration opportunities they need to turn knowledge into action, without needing to sign the Pledge. The first workshop, open to members and Hub participants took place in February 2026, with the next – covering policy – taking place tomorrow, on 1 April.
In addition, during 2026, the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF) is being fully integrated into the FfB Foundation, helping members to raise the bar for measurement. This milestone strengthens members’ ability to measure, manage, and act for nature, enhancing technical support for institutions worldwide. The independent PBAF standards board will continue advancing the PBAF methodology, supporting alignment across markets.
As at CBD COP15 and COP16, the FfB Foundation will also have a strong presence at COP17. Both COP17 and the first Global Stocktake on the Global Biodiversity Framework make 2026 a decisive year. With less than 50% of governments having updated their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans by March 2026, the need for coordinated action has never been clearer.
Five Years On: A Stronger Coalition, A Clearer Mission
As the FfB Foundation marks its fifth anniversary, it is clear that finance will continue to play a pivotal role to play in reversing nature loss. The global biodiversity finance gap stands at USD 700 billion per year, and closing it requires every financial decision to consider nature.
The financial institutions that make up the FfB Foundation community will continue to set the global pace for a financial system that contributes towards nature-positive outcomes. And the FfB Foundation will continue to support them through the creation of practical guidance, frameworks, peer learning and collaboration – while calling on governments and policymakers to play their part.
With a strengthened community, continuously updated tools and guidance, and expanding global recognition of nature as a material financial issue, the next five years promise to be even more transformative than the last five. Indeed, they will need to be if we are to meet the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Our members reflect on the past 5 years
