To help tackle this challenge, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), convened a Civil Society Biodiversity Finance Plan Deep Dive Workshop in Accra. The event forms part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Umbrella Programme for the Development of Biodiversity Finance Plans, under Ghana’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), which seeks to mobilize financial resources at scale for biodiversity protection and sustainable ecosystem management.

The workshop brought together representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs), conservation experts, and policymakers to explore innovative ways to finance biodiversity conservation and integrate nature-positive investments across sectors. It also aimed to enhance understanding of the BIOFIN roadmap and define stakeholder roles in developing Ghana’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan.

“Civil society is the heartbeat of Ghana’s biodiversity movement from advocating for community rights to leading conservation on the ground,” said Ayirebi Frimpong, Programme Specialist (Forests), UNDP Ghana. “This workshop is about strengthening that leadership so that financing for nature reflects our shared priorities and realities. UNDP is proud to support a process that puts people and nature at the centre of sustainable financing.”

Reginald Asare, Project Lead and Sustainable Finance Specialist at UNDP Ghana, also underscored the need for coordinated financing to halt biodiversity loss.

“The challenge is not a lack of commitment but a lack of coordinated financing. The Biodiversity Finance Plan provides a framework to mobilize and direct resources efficiently to protect Ghana’s natural heritage and support sustainable development,” he stated.

Participants were taken through a series of technical presentations on the BIOFIN analytical process, covering key components such as the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER), Financial Needs Assessment (FNA), and the Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP) itself. These sessions deepened stakeholder understanding of how the BIOFIN methodology will guide data collection, policy analysis, and expenditure mapping to identify financing gaps and solutions.

A breakout session encouraged dialogue among participants on existing subsidies and incentive mechanisms across sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and energy. Discussions focused on identifying harmful subsidies and exploring how they could be restructured to support biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods.

Pamela Quaye, Environmental Policy Specialist, underscored the vital role of civil society in ensuring that biodiversity finance solutions are inclusive and impactful.

“Civil society organizations are key partners in ensuring transparency and accountability in biodiversity financing. Their insights help ensure that the solutions we design are both community-driven and sustainable,” she noted.

Participants commended the initiative for creating an inclusive platform to strengthen collaboration among government, civil society, and development partners. They agreed that civil society participation is critical to building public support, improving policy coherence, and ensuring that biodiversity financing delivers tangible benefits for people and nature.

Mr. Yaw Oteng, the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Specialist walked the participants through a presentation on the Biodiversity Expenditure review phase towards the achievement of a Biodiversity Finance plan for Ghana. His discussions centered on the public expenditure data collection methodology of the Expenditure review process, relevant stakeholder engagements, and review of previous expenditures. The Expenditure review phase will also be informed by existing policies and the detailed analysis of the past expenditures (both public and private sector) as detailed inputs into the Financial Needs Assessment phase of the Biodiversity Finance Plan process.

He emphasized the need for continued Civil Society engagements (As the 3^rd National force) for detailed inputs into the private sector data collection phase of the Biodiversity Expenditure Review phase of the process because of the lack and inconsistency of private sector data within the Biodiversity sector.

Insights and recommendations from the workshop will inform ongoing analytical work under the BIOFIN programme, including Ghana’s Biodiversity Expenditure Review and the formulation of the Biodiversity Finance Plan, aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Ghana’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

Through BIOFIN, UNDP continues to support Ghana and other partner countries to unlock innovative financing mechanisms that protect biodiversity, promote nature-positive investments, and advance progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).