Metadata Factsheet

3. Goals and Targets addressed

3a. Goal

Headline Indicator for Goal D Adequate means of implementation, including financial resources, capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, and access to and transfer of technology to fully implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are secured and equitably accessible to all Parties, especially developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, progressively closing the biodiversity finance gap of $700 billion per year, and aligning financial flows with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2050 Vision for biodiversity.

3b. Target

Headline indicator for Target 19 Substantially and progressively increase the level of financial resources from all sources, in an effective, timely and easily accessible manner, including domestic, international, public and private resources, in accordance with Article 20 of the Convention, to implement national biodiversity strategies and action plans, mobilizing at least $200 billion per year by 2030, including by: 

(a) Increasing total biodiversity related international financial resources from developed countries, including official development assistance, and from countries that voluntarily assume obligations of developed country Parties, to developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, to at least $20 billion per year by 2025, and to at least $30 billion per year by 2030;

(b) Significantly increasing domestic resource mobilization, facilitated by the preparation and implementation of national biodiversity finance plans or similar instruments according to national needs, priorities and circumstances;

(c) Leveraging private finance, promoting blended finance, implementing strategies for raising new and additional resources, and encouraging the private sector to invest in biodiversity, including through impact funds and other instruments;

(d) Stimulating innovative schemes such as payment for ecosystem services, green bonds, biodiversity offsets and credits, and benefit sharing mechanisms, with environmental and social safeguards;

(e) Optimizing co-benefits and synergies of finance targeting the biodiversity and climate crises;

(f) Enhancing the role of collective actions, including by indigenous peoples and local communities, Mother Earth centric actions and non-market-based approaches including community based natural resource management and civil society cooperation and solidarity aimed at the conservation of biodiversity;

(g) Enhancing the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of resource provision and use. 

5. Definitions, concepts and classifications

5a. Definition

The indicator measures all international public finance disbursements to developing countries in constant prices, in particular least developed countries and small island developing states, for conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).  Commitments and flows in current prices can also be measured.

The total amount of international public finance flows is composed of:  

• Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other official flows (OOF) for developmental purposes that have been marked as targeting the objectives of the CBD (using the so-called biodiversity marker scores “principal” or “significant”) in the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).1
• For countries that report on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD), such as South-South and triangular Cooperation providers, this includes flows targeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 14 and 15 and/or targeting biodiversity-related sectors.  
• Outflows of multilateral institutions, such as multilateral and regional development banks, vertical funds or international institutions. These are defined as institutions included in the list of ODA-eligible international organisations (Annex 2 of CRS reporting guidelines). Multilateral institutions’ biodiversity-related outflows can be identified through the biodiversity Rio marker, SDGs 14/15 and purpose sectors, as well as through keyword searches – depending on the granularity of the institutions’ reporting to the OECD.

Both ODA and OOF, as well as TOSSD, are composed of flows disbursed to developing countries by official agencies, including state and local governments, or by their executive agencies – although commitment flows can also be identified. For ODA and OOF, developing countries include countries on the DAC List of ODA Recipients. The TOSSD list of recipients is broader, based on the DAC List as in 2015.2

Multilateral expenditures (outflows) for biodiversity include a mix of activities financed with core contributions and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations. These resources are provided by official agencies as defined above but also include other resources that multilateral organisations receive as grants from the private sector or leverage from international capital markets.3 To avoid double counting, therefore, unearmarked (estimated imputed shares) and earmarked contributions from provider countries can be included as part of the provider country reporting, unless a separate indicator is created to track multilateral institution outflows. In this case, caution needs to be taken to ensure to present bilateral from multilateral flows separately. If a separate indicator is introduced for multilateral organisations, these can include the outflows (expenditures on activities in developing countries) reported to the CRS and/or TOSSD. Outflows from the regular budgets are available in the CRS and TOSSD. Outflows from earmarked contributions are available in the TOSSD framework.

5b. Method of computation

1. Options for countries:

• A country can compute their international financial flows by using the DAC CRS based on the Rio marker for biodiversity. The indicator is calculated as the sum of all ODA and OOF activities marked for biodiversity with either the principal or significant score. This can include multi-bi allocations. Given that Rio markers are not applicable to core contributions to multilateral organisations, imputed multilateral flows would need to be calculated based on current and estimated multilateral institutions’ outflows for biodiversity.

• Taken together, the bilateral, the multi-bi and the imputed multilateral flows would give the total international finance for biodiversity per providing country.
• Imputed multilateral flows could be calculated by the OECD based on current reporting of multilateral institutions to the CRS and/or TOSSD, as some institutions report using the Rio markers. For other institutions, estimates could also be calculated.

• Alternatively, and/or in complement to the above, a country can sum up all activities identified in their TOSSD reporting as additional to ODA and OOF and that have been marked with the SDG14, SDG15 and/or the sector code “biodiversity” or “biosphere protection”.  
• Alternatively, a country can report on biodiversity-related international financial flows using other methods (e.g. using own data sources, using more disaggregation than OECD DAC Rio marker data, using ODA/OOF commitments), as long as the flow targets the objectives of the CBD (in line with the OECD DAC Rio marker definition). 

For information, the OECD DAC Rio marker helps track biodiversity-related activities when targeting the objectives of the CBD, with a 'principal objective' or a 'significant objective'. Activities marked as “principal” would not have been funded but for that objective; activities marked “significant” have other primary objectives, but have been formulated or adjusted to help meet biodiversity concerns. The Rio markers were designed to track the degree to which members are integrating and mainstreaming environmental considerations into their development co-operation activities, and thus apply to the entirety of an activity reported – not to the allocation of finance associated with the biodiversity-specific component of that activity. Hence, when reporting on this target, countries could report only a portion of their development finance targeting biodiversity as a “significant” objective, using a coefficient to adjust the volume of finance counted. There is no agreed definition or common approach for this practice, but the most common coefficient applied to countries’ “significant” flows is 40%, along with the full account of “principal” flows. When reporting, countries would need to specify the coefficients used for the amounts disbursed to developing countries.

Two biodiversity-specific activity codes (biodiversity and biosphere protection) have the ‘principal’ score of the Rio marker assigned by default (hence would be accounted in full). Additional information might be available through activities reported to SDGs 14 and 15. When looking at complementary data based on the SDGs 14 and 15, TOSSD represents a better source of information because the reporting is part of the eligibility criteria (at the target level) and therefore better reported and verified by reporters and the Secretariat. Contrary to what happens in TOSSD, the reporting on the SDG focus of ODA flows is voluntary in the CRS and the coverage is lower.

2. Options for multilateral institutions (should a specific indicator be created for multilateral institutions to report separately and voluntarily on their biodiversity-related outflows):

• A multilateral institution may report biodiversity-related outflows, either using Rio marker data reported to the OECD, applying the same methodology as explained above for bilateral providers of development co-operation.
• A multilateral institution may report biodiversity-related outflows applying other methods, as long as the outflows captured target the objectives of the CBD (in line with the OECD DAC Rio marker definition). 

As noted earlier, the figures of multilateral flows would need to be presented separately from those of bilateral flows, to avoid double counting (except for multi-bi flows, which can be accounted for by bilateral providers). This would require developing a separate complementary indicator for multilateral institutions.

5c. Data collection method

Depending on the reporting option selected by the country/institution, data may be collected through information already reported to the OECD DAC Secretariat and the Secretariat of the International Forum on TOSSD: 

• The OECD DAC Secretariat collects individual aid activities on ODA and OOF in the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) via annual reporting tables compiled by national statistical reporters (in aid agencies, ministries of foreign affairs, etc).  
• The Secretariat of the International Forum on TOSSD also collects activity-level information on support for sustainable development, including South-South and triangular Cooperation flows, through annual reporting tables filled by national statistical reporters, for inclusion in the TOSSD database. 

Alternatively, a country/institution may report independently from these data collection methods, ensuring international comparability.  

5d. Accessibility of methodology

Countries and institutions reporting via the OECD databases can refer to:

• Methodology on the Rio marker for biodiversity, available here:https-J/one.oecd org/document/DCD/DAC/STAT(2023)9/.. (Annex 20).
• Information on the OECD DAC CRS itself is available here: https-J/one oecd org/document/DCD/DAC/STAT(2020)44
• The TOSSD methodology (reporting instructions) is available here: https://www.tossd.org/docs/reporting-instructions....

For other countries/institutions, reported data needs to ensure international comparability and the use of these methodological guidelines, notably on what constitutes international public finance for biodiversity (i.e. flows targeting the CBD objectives, as per the Rio marker definition).

5e. Data sources

The OECD/DAC collects data on official resource flows through the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) (CRS data are considered complete from 1995 for commitments at an activity level and 2002 for disbursements). The Rio marker for biodiversity was introduced in 2002 and tracking against the SDGs was introduced in 2018. The data are provided by 32 DAC donors, 17 other bilateral providers of development cooperation and 64 multilateral organisations.

The CRS also includes non-ODA information, e.g. Other Official Flows from bilateral donors, private flows from philanthropic institutions providing development finance for biodiversity, and private finance flows mobilised through public interventions (e.g. using guarantees or other forms of finance, including blended finance). Some of this information may be useful for CBD Parties when reporting to indicator 19 D.3 on private finance for biodiversity.  

TOSSD is a data source complementary to the CRS (see method of computation section) for providers that do not report on ODA/OOF, particularly South-South and triangular co-operation providers, that do not use the biodiversity Rio marker, or that report additional biodiversity-related activities (e.g. to developing countries not eligible to receive ODA/OOF). As such, TOSSD measures all official resources flowing into developing countries for their sustainable development, distinguishing between cross-border flows (pillar I) and global and regional expenditures, including for international public goods (pillar II). An activity is deemed to support sustainable development if it directly contributes to at least one SDG target and if no substantial detrimental effect is anticipated on one or more of the other targets. TOSSD data are available at the activity level from 2019. TOSSD includes data from 128 bilateral and multilateral providers.

5f. Availability and release calendar

Availability: In the CRS, the Rio marker on biodiversity was introduced in 2002, with improvements in reporting over time. Additional information is available through the SDGs, purpose codes and keyword searches. TOSSD data is available since 2019. Both TOSSD and CRS are reported yearly. In TOSSD, the Rio markers do not exist and identification can be made using the SDGs, sector codes and keywords. 

Provisional data classification: Tier I 

Release Calendar: On an annual basis. 

5g. Time series

The CRS data are available since 1995 for commitments on an annual basis. The Rio marker on biodiversity is available since 2002. TOSSD data are available on an annual basis since 2019.

5h. Data providers

Countries and institutions (provided a separate indicator is approved) are providers of biodiversity-related international public flows. This data can be reported directly to the CBD or through data already collected by the OECD and the International Forum on TOSSD.

A statistical reporter is responsible for the collection of CRS and/or TOSSD data in each providing country/agency/institution. This reporter is usually located in the national aid agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Finance etc.

The OECD Secretariat, in consultation with countries, validates the CRS data before they are published online; while the Secretariat of the International Forum on TOSSD does the same for TOSSD data. 

5i. Data compilers

Data will be compiled by the CBD Secretariat building upon individual country/institution reports and on data already reported to the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate and the Secretariat of the International Forum on TOSSD.

5j. Gaps in data coverage

In the CRS, providers beyond the OECD DAC membership do not systematically report using the biodiversity Rio marker. For these providers, information may therefore be available with Rio marker data, or not. In which case, it may be better to use TOSSD data. If the country does not report on TOSSD, project-level descriptions, where a keyword search can be performed by the OECD, can provide biodiversity-related information.

For DAC members, the main data gap relates to OOF. In addition some modalities, such as debt relief operations or general budget support, are also not tracked through the Rio marker system (except debt-for-nature swaps). Work is on-going to increase the coverage of the indicator in relation to biodiversity-related finance beyond ODA from OECD DAC members.

Available data includes information on other dimensions that cut across with biodiversity objectives, including gender, the intersection with other Rio markers (climate change adaptation and mitigation, desertification), or capacity development type of activities (e.g. technical assistance, scholarships, etc) and the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of technology. For other issue areas (e.g. capturing specific sub-themes such as the participation of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) and youth), keyword searches can be performed by the OECD or activities may be reported by countries, until a systematic method is identified to track such flows.

In TOSSD, the coverage in terms of providers is wider, although the Rio marker methodology does not exist. Biodiversity related activities can be reported through the SDG focus field or biodiversity-related sector codes. For TOSSD, reporting on the SDG focus field was challenging in the first year of data collection in 2019, but the use of the code has steadily improved in coverage and quality since then, and the number of South-South and triangular co-operation providers is growing over time. 

Multilateral institutions report to the OECD on a voluntary basis but do not all use the biodiversity Rio marker or comprehensively indicate their biodiversity-related outflows. This data can be estimated through their reporting on the SDGs or purpose codes, or the use of keyword searches. A more robust breakdown of multilateral flows would be possible through the direct identification and reporting of biodiversity-related flows to the OECD, provided these flows aim at targeting the objectives of the CBD. Multilateral institutions report in the CRS activities financed with their core budget (while earmarked activities are attributed to bilateral donors) and in the TOSSD framework biodiversity-related activities financed with both the core budget and earmarked contributions (both ODA and beyond ODA-related).

5k. Treatment of missing values

Countries (and should an indicator be developed, multilateral institutions) are responsible for the compilation and reporting of their biodiversity-related public international finance to the CBD. They need to ensure avoiding missing values, as well as enabling international comparability of their reported flows, using this metadata sheet as guidance. Countries (and institutions) may decide to report data through the OECD DAC CRS and TOSSD databases.

6. Scale

6a. Scale of use

Scale of application: Global, Regional, National

Scale of data disaggregation/aggregation: Activity/project level

Global/ regional scale indicator can be disaggregated to national level: Yes

National data is collated to form global indicator: Yes

The indicator is available for use at the national, regional and global level. It should be noted that local and national data on each species are compiled to undertake global Red List assessments of each species, and it is these that are used to generate the global index, disaggregated to national indices.

6b. National/regional indicator production

The DAC statistical Reporting Directives govern the reporting of DAC statistics and are reviewed and agreed by the DAC Working Party of Development Finance Statistics (WP-STAT), see: https://one.oecd.org/document/DCD/DAC/STAT(2020)44... (Annex 20). The International Forum on TOSSD governs the reporting of TOSSD statistics.  

6c. Sources of differences between global and national figures

DAC and TOSSD statistics are standardised on a calendar year basis for all providers and may differ from fiscal year data available in budget documents for some countries. Some countries and institutions provide more comprehensive information than others.

6d. Regional and global estimates & data collection for global monitoring

6d.1 Description of the methodology

Data are reported at a country / multilateral institution level

6d.2 Additional methodological details

6d.3 Description of the mechanism for collecting data from countries

7. Other MEAs, processes and organisations

7a. Other MEA and processes

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 15

7b. Biodiversity Indicator Partnership

Yes

10. Data reporter

10a. Organisation

For countries and institutions wishing to use the OECD databases, the OECD DAC Secretariat or the International TOSSD Forum would have the databases from which to source the information. Otherwise, the country or institution would be the data reporter.

10b. Contact person(s)

CRS (Juan.CASADOASENSIO@oecd.org)

CRS (Giorgio.GUALBERTl@oecd.org)

TOSSD (Marisa.BerbegalIbanez@oecd.org)

OECD CBD Focal Point (Katia.KAROUSAKIS@oecd.org)