The issue of innovative financing for biodiversity forms part of the wider challenge of financing the struggle against the loss of diversity among living beings on the scales of species, ecosystems and genes. By adopting the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the international community endorsed the objectives of:
• conserving biodiversity;
• using biodiversity sustainably;
• the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Innovative initiatives for biodiversity financing - Judicaël Fétiveau et al, Directorate-General of Global Affairs, Development and Partnerships, 2014 [Published: 2014]

This report has two main objectives: to estimate expenditure on biodiversity conservation for the most recent five-year period (2008 – 2012), disaggregated by the source of this expenditure; and to project a baseline of ‘business as usual’ biodiversity expenditure for the duration of the period comprising Namibia’s Second National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP2; 2013 – 2020). The methodology and framework of the report is informed by the UNDP BIOFIN Workbook. Development of a Baseline of Biodiversity Expenditure in Namibia: Final Report - Lawrie Harper-Simmonds et al, Namibia Nature Foundation, 2014 [Published: 2014]

In this report, we propose a toolkit with a number of scalable, repeatable and investable ideas for substantially growing investment into the conservation sector. Implementing these will require a strong collaboration between the financial and environmental communities on new and creative ways to solve the financial structuring and conservation challenges at hand. Conservation Finance From Niche to Mainstream: The Building of an Institutional Asset Class - Credit Suisse Group AG, McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, 2016   [Published: 2016]

Since the Convention on Biological Diversity was agreed upon at the Rio Earth Summit, global Protected Area (PA) coverage has increased whereas commensurable financial  commitments to manage PAs have not. Here, it is questioned whether biodiversity offsets should act as a complementary funding mechanism where funding for PAs is inadequate. Should biodiversity offsets help finance underfunded Protected Areas? - Mwangi Githirua et al, Biological Conservation, Elsevier, 27 July 2015 [Published: 2015]

This important report highlights the need to increase the size and diversity of the financial support to Myanmar's protected areas... The report also highlights the need to enhance revenue retention and promote reinvestment in conservation. Sustainable Financing of Protected Areas in Myanmar - Lucy Emerton, U Aung Kyin, and Robert Tizard, Wildlife Conservation Society, Myanmar Program, 2015 [Published: 2015]

In this paper the prospects of further inclusion of seagrass ecosystems in climate policy frameworks, with a particular focus on carbon storage and sequestration, as well as the potential for developing payment for ecosystem service (PES) schemes that are complementary to carbon management are reviewed. Harnessing the climate mitigation, conservation and poverty alleviation potential of seagrasses: prospects for developing blue carbon initiatives and payment for ecosystem service programmes - Adam P Hejnowicz, Hilary Kennedy, Murray A Rudd, Mark Huxham, Frontiers in Marine Science, 2015 [Published: 2015]

The main aim of this study is to find the prospects of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in securing sustainable finance for the management of protected areas. The study is based on reviewing the existing scientific literature in order to highlight the issues regarding the emerging concept of PES with reference to Nepalese PAs; specifically, the question arises on how these sources can be used to secure sustainable financing of PAs. Findings suggest that there are ample opportunities in Nepalese PAs for PES that can be used as a new financial tool in conservation. However, design of appropriate legal and policy frameworks is highly recommended in participation with concerned stakeholders. Prospect of Financing Protected Areas through Payment for Ecosystem Services in Nepal - Thapa Kamal, International Research Journal of Environment Sciences, June 2015 [Published: 2015]

This study investigates how and to what extent 26 sustainability standards (eleven for forest management, nine for agriculture and six biofuel-related) consider biodiversity, by assessing how they seek to prevent actions that can threaten biodiversity as well as how they support actions aimed at biodiversity conservation. For this purpose, a benchmark standard was developed, meant to represent a case with very high ambitions concerning biodiversity conservation. How do sustainability standards consider biodiversity? - Oskar Englund, Göran Berndes, WIREs Energy Environ, 2015 [Published: 2014]

Increased recognition of the business case for managing corporate impacts on the environment has helped drive increasingly detailed and quantified corporate environmental goals. Foremost among these are goals of no net loss (NNL) and net positive impact (NPI). We assess the scale and growth of such corporate goals. Since the first public, company-wide NNL/NPI goal in 2001, 32 companies have set similar goals, of which 18 specifically include biodiversity... Specific  NNL/NPI goals were examined and the extent to which their key components were likely to increase the effectiveness of these goals in benefiting biodiversity and managing business risk were assessed. Nonetheless, outcomes are more important than goals, and conservationists are urged to work with companies to both support and monitor their efforts to achieve increasingly ambitious environmental goals. A review of corporate goals of No Net Loss and Net Positive Impact on biodiversity - Hugo J. Rainey et al, Flora & Fauna International, 2014   [Published: 2014]

This article summarizes key insights into conservation that come from the intersections of economics and finance: public finance, conservation finance, and financial theory applied to problems of conservation. We discuss some of what has been learned from the study of conservation and finance that helps us to understand when, where, and even whether conservation activities should occur; portfolio theory has been harnessed to help guide conservation planning under uncertainty, and real options theory helps us understand whether to  commit to conservation or to wait. The Economics of Conservation and Finance: A Review of the Literature - Amy W. Ando, Payal Shah, International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, 2014 [Published: 2014]