Mobilising Finance for Biodiversity: Insights From Across the Island of Ireland

This paper investigates how sustainable finance mechanisms can be designed and mobilised to support biodiversity objectives in Ireland. We employ a qualitative, participatory research design, drawing on interdisciplinary workshops held across the island of Ireland in 2023. Using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and thematic analysis, we identify seven core themes shaping biodiversity finance, including the growing awareness of nature loss, the climate–biodiversity nexus, the role of financial innovation, and the importance of community and agricultural co-design. Our findings offer grounded insights into how finance can align with biodiversity policy ambitions such as the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the EU Nature Restoration Law. The study contributes to the nascent literature on biodiversity finance by highlighting the need for localised, socially embedded financial solutions, and by outlining practical pathways for bridging the biodiversity finance gap in a national context.