UNDP offers partnership to Sri Lankan universities
View(s):The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through its latest initiative, has extended technical assistance to Sri Lankan universities to enhance their higher education curricula by integrating biodiversity financing concepts. This effort is part of the UNDP’s global Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), which was launched in 2012 and has since expanded to 135 countries. Sri Lanka became a participant in the BIOFIN programme in 2016, aligning its need for biodiversity conservation with global efforts to mobilise resources, according to an official media release.
Biodiversity across the globe is facing a critical decline, driven by multiple factors—chief among them, inadequate financial investment. BIOFIN aims to address this urgent issue by closing the growing gap between the funds required to safeguard and restore nature and the actual resources allocated by governments. Current estimates suggest that protecting and restoring global biodiversity demands approximately US$ 824 billion annually. However, actual spending falls drastically short, amounting to only $143 billion per year, leaving a staggering finance gap of $681 billion that threatens the planet’s ecological balance.
A preliminary discussion titled ‘Integrating Biodiversity Finance into Higher Education Curricula’ was held with the assistance of the Central Bank to better understand the current context and extent of biodiversity finance integration in existing curricula, and to plan the next steps in developing new content. Since then, BIOFIN has begun discussions with several universities, providing assistance in four key ways.
The first is by adding sustainability and biodiversity finance modules into existing university courses. This is particularly useful for universities that at present do not have the capacity to develop new courses. The second is by providing technical assistance for new course offerings. The third involves supporting and providing resources for student research, which is essential in addressing knowledge gaps in the field. Universities have reported that while students show growing interest in the topic, many have struggled due to a lack of technical know-how. BIOFIN aims to bridge this gap by conducting workshops on research methodology and by engaging both local and international experts. Finally, BIOFIN is also exploring ways to support the development and establishment of university-based research and innovation centres, an area of interest expressed by certain universities currently engaging in this process.
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