Biodiversity is the variety of life at genetic, species, and ecosystems levels. It is essential to sustain human life, food security, crop yields, jobs, livelihoods, and marine productivity. Yet, it is declining at an unprecedented rate as the planet approaches a tipping point that could have permanent effects on livelihoods, economies, disaster risks, and climate stability. While the international community aims to stop and reverse biodiversity loss, progress has been slow.  

The World Bank Group is one of the largest global investors in biodiversity. This evaluation assessed how well the Bank Group is supporting clients to address biodiversity loss, by answering: (i) How is The World Bank (WB) addressing biodiversity challenges through conservation-focused activities? and (ii) How well are the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) supporting activities with potential biodiversity benefits in key production sectors? A third question on managing risks to biodiversity was covered in a World Bank Group (WBG) biodiversity offsets review. 

Biodiversity Conservation 

Conservation is a key goal of biodiversity efforts globally and at the World Bank Group, but it alone cannot achieve all goals. 

The World Bank has helped to conserve biodiversity in over 880 protected areas mainly in tropical forests between fiscal years 2010-24. But support for biodiversity in subtropical regions, deserts, and mangroves remains low, despite their ecological importance. Most projects do not monitor ecological outcomes, making it challenging to credibly demonstrate biodiversity gains or losses and learn lessons.  

Indigenous Peoples and local communities demonstrate effectiveness in protecting biodiversity. However, the World Bank infrequently identifies, engages with, and protects them in its conservation efforts. When it has, it has concentrated activities in just a few countries. See more in Chapter 2. 

Connecting Climate and Biodiversity in Development Planning 

Countries recognize the need to better connect climate and biodiversity ambitions—as reflected in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity—and to align implementation. Most Country Partnership Frameworks (CPFs) are strongly aligned with their national climate goals but not with their biodiversity commitments. The Bank Group is not optimizing biodiversity benefits in CPFs with climate and nature objectives and rarely captures biodiversity-related results. See more in Chapter 3. 

Integrating Biodiversity into Production Sectors  

To deliver on the Bank Group’s mission to end extreme poverty and boost prosperity on a livable planet, production sectors, such as agrifood, fisheries, and forest management, must stay productive as ecological limits tighten. Issues like soil depletion, water stress, and declining fish stocks are already reducing yields and increasing costs. Sustainable production practices can help address biodiversity loss while also providing sustained yields, nutritious foods, and jobs. The evaluation found that some World Bank and IFC projects show it is possible to achieve both economic and environmental benefits, and these approaches could be adapted, replicated, and expanded. See more in Chapter 4. 

Biodiversity Offsets 

Biodiversity offsets—actions designed to compensate for unavoidable biodiversity loss from development projects—are increasingly used in global conservation efforts. But offsets are difficult to implement effectively since they require long-term, sustained financial and technical support to deliver their intended conservation outcomes. The Bank Group faces gaps in skills and capacity for managing offsets across its three institutions. There has been uneven and inconsistent updating of offset information after project Board approval, undermining transparency, and methods for measuring biodiversity gains or losses are often unclear. See more in Chapter 5.  

The evaluation offers four recommendations to help the Bank Group support clients in achieving their livable planet goals. The recommendations align with the Bank Group’s mission to end poverty while supporting clients in protecting their natural capital, which is foundational for their prosperity, job-creation, resilience, and debt sustainability.