20 June 2025 - As Vanuatu advances the update of its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), the country is deepening engagement with the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership to explore targeted support for implementation.

In his first official meeting as in-country facilitator for the Pacific Region, Adrien Moienau presented the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership to the Honourable Minister of Climate Change, Mr. Ralph Regenvanu and other senior officials.

The discussion focused on potential areas of collaboration, including the design and development of a national Green Levy, an environmental surcharge applied to tourism or other sectors to generate dedicated funding for conservation and community-based initiatives. The Minister and senior officials confirmed the Green Levy as a current government priority, closely tied to the activation of Vanuatu’s Environmental Trust Fund.

Minister Regenvanu welcomed the partnership’s potential support in connecting the country with legal and technical expertise, as well as facilitating inclusive stakeholder consultations. Opportunities for South-South exchange with countries such as Palau and Ecuador were also discussed, with a view to learning from their experiences with similar levy mechanisms.

Vanuatu, a member of the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership Steering Committee, continues to take an active role in shaping regional and global biodiversity action. Minister Regenvanu, a long-standing advocate for environmental justice, climate accountability, and ocean governance, recently reiterated his country’s call for binding global climate action at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, highlighting the vulnerability of small island states and the need to safeguard the ocean as a critical carbon sink.

Adrien Moienau, NBSAP Accelerator Partnership Facilitator for the Pacific Region (left), Honourable Minister of Climate Change, Mr. Ralph Regenvanu (center) and Ms. Rolenas Baereleo, Principal Officer for the Biodiversity and Conservation section at the Department of Environnement, Protection and Conservation (DEPC) and CBD National Focal Point (right).

The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is a country-led initiative to accelerate the implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), raise their political profile, and drive collective action for nature. It is co-chaired by Colombia and Germany and supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection (BMUV) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), through the global project “GBF Implementation,” implemented by GIZ. Its work is facilitated by a Global Coordination Unit (GCU) hosted by the Secretariat of the CBD, UNDP and UNEP.