As the year is coming to an end and with a climate COP hailed as a nature COP behind us, we reflect on our recent discussions with financial institutions on the possibilities of financing nature. Exchanging ideas with financial market participants in Peru, Kenya, and Germany, the Finance for Nature project, a collaboration between GIZ and Triodos Investment Management, will start in 2026, encouraged by the continued and growing interest in nature and biodiversity. At the same time, understanding of the asset class and the track record needs to be deepened, blended finance remains crucial, and there is much to gain from sharing learnings across markets.
Among commercial investors, impact funds have been early movers in the nature space. This year’s Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Impact Forum, bringing together around 1,600 participants in Berlin, Germany, confirmed that nature and biodiversity remain top of mind for impact investors. Many participating asset managers showcased relevant funds, with a strong focus on land-based restoration, agriculture, and forestry. While participants acknowledged headwinds from shrinking development aid, geopolitical tensions, and the reversal of environmental policies, the sector is benefiting from a broader investment base: Pension funds are becoming an increasingly important source of capital, accounting for 35% of impact assets under management, followed by banks (14%), insurance companies (12%), and government agencies (11%). The tricky backdrop has been conducive to partnership building and renewed interest in blended finance. This was also highlighted by Anna Sophie Herken, Member of GIZ’s Management Board.
Speaking on a panel titled “Navigating Headwinds: Investing Through Uncertainty,” she underscored that to build resilience and address risks, we need local knowledge, capacity-building, and networks. This requires partnering up and stepping out of the comfort zones of specific institutions. In this spirit, GIZ and Triodos Investment Management, in collaboration with Finance for Nature, will be providing trainings for financial institutions in Mexico, Peru, and Kenya in 2026, as well as facilitating networking between financial institutions and project developers.
There is significant scope for local financial institutions to channel more international and domestic capital into NbS, leveraging their local knowledge, portfolio, and reach. Conferences and fora in Kenya and Peru confirmed the growing interest of local financial institutions in nature-positive investments. At the Green Finance Forum (FIVERDE 2025) in Lima, Peru, discussions centred on strengthening biodiversity markets and promoting sustainable financing from both the private and public sectors. The event brought together more than 300 representatives from the Peruvian government, financial institutions, international cooperation agencies, multilateral banks, trade associations, academia, and civil society to discuss the challenges of mobilising financing for a more sustainable future. FIVERDE included a panel on “Opportunities and risks in Biodiversity Finance markets”. Where members of the develoPPP Finance for Nature exchanged views with BIOFIN, Restore and Terrasos, as well as the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (Minam), on financial instruments targeting biodiversity loss and a roundtable on “Boosting natural infrastructure”, where we co-led discussions together with WWF on the potential bankability of nature-based solutions in the region.
In Kenya, the Kenya Bankers Association convened its members for a full-day event on nature in September, supported by WWF-Kenya, GIZ, and IUCN. The Nature Positive Forum in Nairobi saw several forceful calls to action. Speaking on the GIZ-moderated panel ‘Investing in Nature: Insights from Practitioners’, William Khamasi (Director of ESG and Climate Risk, Equity Group Holding) highlighted the relevance of nature loss: “It is an existential threat to our business model.” Eva Warigia (Associate Director for Investor Relations, New Forests) also stressed the opportunities, noting that natural capital remains undervalued on the African continent. While participants recognised the dependency of bank portfolios on ecosystem services, several bank representatives also acknowledged that the journey to measuring and addressing the risks and opportunities was only just beginning. Unsurprisingly, the need for capacity building is great. This was confirmed at the Africa Climate Investment Summit in Nairobi in October, where banks and fund managers particularly showed interest in nature restoration, the voluntary carbon market, and project monitoring. Participants also responded positively to the Nature’s Return – Kenya report launched by F4N at the Forum.
The potential for scaling nature-based solutions in emerging markets and developing countries is significant: 77% of cost-efficient land-based mitigation measures, crucial for mitigating climate change, are found in Asia and the developing Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa and the Middle East. Strengthening the capacities of local financial institutions to facilitate this scaling is the goal of Finance for Nature, a collaboration between Triodos Investment Management and the GIZ, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through its programme develoPPP. Looking towards 2026, capacity-building workshops for financial institutions will take place in Kenya, Mexico and Peru, providing participants with practical examples and guidelines on how to invest in NbS and build a portfolio. Furthermore, the project will develop an e-learning and launch new thematic publications on NBS markets and impact monitoring. In all this, Finance for Nature bundles the power of the private and public sector to create greater impact together.
