Using a multi-level perspective to advance the financing of biodiversity

The paper examines the failure of the 'billions to trillions' agenda to mobilize private capital for biodiversity, noting that while some success exists in renewable energy, biodiversity funding remains critically low. It introduces the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) as a tool to analyze the financial 'regime' and 'landscape' that obstruct biodiversity investment. The author suggests six policy intervention points—stimulating and accelerating niches, destabilizing the regime, addressing repercussions, coordinating multi-regime interactions, and tilting the landscape—to drive a systemic transition toward effective biodiversity financing.

• The 'billions to trillions' agenda, which relies on public funds to catalyze private investment for the SDGs and climate action, has seen limited success in biodiversity. While climate mitigation (particularly renewable energy in the global north) has attracted investment, biodiversity and adaptation funding are severely lagging.
• There is a massive gap between the financial requirements to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C and actual contributions. Annual needs are estimated at USD 4.5 trillion, but reported global contributions were USD 632 billion, representing only 14% of the requirement.
• Biodiversity financing is particularly deficient; in 2019, public funding for global biodiversity was USD 3.3 billion, which is only 0.006 dollars for every dollar invested in mitigation programming.
• The failure to finance biodiversity is attributed to a systemic issue where biodiversity's multidimensional characteristics do not translate well into the fundamentals of market economics, and the current financial 'regime' constricts the space for private finance to flow toward biodiversity.
• The author proposes applying the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework to move beyond sector-specific studies toward coordinated policy mixes. This involves intervening at three levels: the 'niche' (radical alternatives), the 'regime' (stable rules and behaviors), and the 'landscape' (macro-level forces).
• To advance biodiversity financing, the paper suggests six specific policy intervention points: stimulating and accelerating biodiversity niches (e.g., agro-ecological farming), destabilizing the current financial regime (e.g., removing fossil fuel subsidies), addressing repercussions of destabilization, coordinating multi-regime interactions, and tilting the broader landscape through international agreements.

APA

Osborne, M. (2022). Using a multi-level perspective to advance the financing of biodiversity. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sei-working-paper-financing-biodiversity-osborne.pdf

Chicago

Osborne, Matthew. Using a multi-level perspective to advance the financing of biodiversity. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sei-working-paper-financing-biodiversity-osborne.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Osborne |first1=Matthew |title=Using a multi-level perspective to advance the financing of biodiversity |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=September 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sei-working-paper-financing-biodiversity-osborne.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{osborne2022using, author = {Osborne, Matthew}, title = {{Using a multi-level perspective to advance the financing of biodiversity}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sei-working-paper-financing-biodiversity-osborne.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }