Beirut, 17 September 2025--In line with collaborative efforts to conserve biodiversity in the Arab region, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) today kicked off the Arab Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Biodiversity Finance for Climate Resilience at the UN House in Beirut, in the presence of senior officials from ministries of environment, agriculture and energy in Arab States and a score of partners and stakeholders.
The opening session featured interventions on behalf of Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara Elzein, ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti, Ambassador of Colombia in Lebanon Edwin Ostos-Alfonso, Chargé d'Affaires at the Embassy of Brazil in Lebanon Felipe Goulart, and Director of the Environmental Meteorological Affairs Department at the League of Arab States Mahmoud Fathallah.
"Our region has grown accustomed to sharing problems-conflict, displacement, drought, pollution. But now, we are also learning how to design solutions together. That is a shift worth celebrating," stated Director of Research/Remote Sensing Center at the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon Carla Khater, on behalf of Elzein. "If we can unlock the right mechanisms, align national and international funding streams, and de-risk nature-based investments, then we can shift from crisis to recovery-and from fragmentation to restoration," she added.
The Forum is organized within the framework of the Multi-Stakeholder Platform for Protecting Biodiversity, launched by ESCWA in 2023 in collaboration with the Government of Sweden, and focusing on three thematic areas crucial for the Arab region: nature-based solutions for climate resilience; land degradation in arid agricultural ecosystems; and renewable energy and biodiversity.
"There is no prosperity for people without a planet protected for current and future generations," said Climate Change and Natural Resource Sustainability Cluster Leader Carol Chouchani Cherfane, on behalf of Dashti. "This Forum offers a timely opportunity to discuss threats to our biodiversity and how collaborative responses can enhance our collective resilience to climate change," she added.
The two-day Forum will identify priority biodiversity conservation challenges posed by climate change and region-specific response measures identified through the Platform and its working groups. It will discuss innovative biodiversity finance strategies and instruments, with lessons learned at the global and regional levels.
The event will also showcase finance-ready project proposals prepared through the multi-stakeholder platform working groups. This will include discussions on the scope, scalability, and expected achievements targeted by the projects for advancing biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.
