Government representatives from 15 Pacific Island Countries and Territories have convened this week at The Pearl Resort in Pacific Harbour to officially launch the GEF-8 funded Pacific Biodiversity Finance (BIOFIN) Umbrella Programme, a landmark initiative to strengthen biodiversity financing across the region.
Hosted by the Government of Fiji, the four-day Inception Workshop marks the start of coordinated regional efforts to create an enabling environment that supports the design and implementation of National Biodiversity Finance Plans tailored to Pacific contexts and priorities, strengthens resource mobilization, and embeds gender equality and inclusivity at the core of future finance strategies.
In his opening remarks, Fiji’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Sivendra Michael said: “Biodiversity is not a luxury. It is the foundation of our economies, our food systems, our resilience, and our identity. If we fail to finance it properly, we are not just failing nature—we are failing ourselves.” “If we do not innovate how we finance biodiversity in the Pacific at the scale, scope, and speed it deserves, we risk losing the very essence of who we are.”
