Home / Recent news / Accelerating biodiversity action: Using AI purposefully and strategically for people and the planet
Accelerating biodiversity action: Using AI purposefully and strategically for people and the planet
Home / Recent news / Accelerating biodiversity action: Using AI purposefully and strategically for people and the planet
Accelerating biodiversity action: Using AI purposefully and strategically for people and the planet
- The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is testing purpose-built AI tools to improve access to trusted biodiversity knowledge and strengthen support for countries implementing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
- The Accelerator is committed to learning and modeling how to use AI strategically and responsibly.
- Every AI tool is designed to complement (not replace) human expertise, with people remaining at the centre of every decision.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to help countries take more efficient, strategic and informed action for biodiversity. The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is exploring this reality, using AI where it can meaningfully improve access to trusted knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and support implementation.
Leveraging AI for positive action
The Accelerator’s approach leverages AI where it can be used to support biodiversity action. One example of this is its use of internal AI-enabled matchmaking tools. These tools help the Accelerator’s MatchMaking Mechanism team conduct deeper research on technical and financial partners that can respond to country requests for support. Rather than replacing human expertise, AI in this context, helps surface a broader range of actors, including smaller and more specialized providers that might otherwise be overlooked.
The Accelerator is also piloting the NBSAP Knowledge Navigator, an AI-powered resource that allows users to ask questions directly against a library of trusted NBSAP guidance and reference materials. Instead of reading through dozens of reports, manuals and guidance documents, users can receive referenced answers grounded in carefully selected resources, helping them find information more quickly and in their own language. Every response is grounded exclusively in a curated library of trusted resources developed under the GIZ Global GBF Implementation Project, allowing users to explore reliable information with confidence.
The Knowledge Navigator project grew from discussions with GIZ partners in Bonn about finding new ways to make biodiversity knowledge more accessible than traditional collections of website links. The initiative reflects a broader vision across the United Nations: Using AI to reduce barriers to knowledge while ensuring information remains trustworthy. The approach allows users to ask questions in their own language and know that the answers come from reliable and vetted sources. Similar initiatives are emerging across the UN system to help people navigate complex environmental information more efficiently.
NBSAP Accelerator Partnership Technical Specialist, Nicole Lantz, described the intentions of the Knowledge Navigator project:
The idea is to reduce barriers to knowledge by making trusted information easier to access. It’s about overcoming language barriers, bringing reliable resources together in one place, and helping people find the information they need to advance their biodiversity goals. It’s encouraging to see other UN organizations exploring the same approach.
Considering environmental and social costs
The environmental footprint of artificial intelligence is becoming an important topic of discussion across the United Nations system. As more organizations explore how AI can support sustainable development, they are also examining how to minimise its impacts on energy use, water consumption and critical mineral demand. The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is part of this broader effort, seeking to apply AI in ways that maximise benefits while using the technology thoughtfully and selectively.
Looking ahead: AI as an accelerant
Looking ahead, the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership aims to help countries better understand how AI can be used responsibly to accelerate their own biodiversity goals and implementation efforts. The goal, as Technical Specialist Nicole Lantz explains, is to “learn how to use AI carefully and thoughtfully to accelerate positive action for development and nature.”
We can’t ignore this tool. It’s not going away. At the same time, the scale of what’s possible is enormous. AI can increase human capacity in remarkable ways, but we need to learn quickly how to use it responsibly.
By combining innovation with strong ethical principles and environmental responsibility, the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is demonstrating how the responsible and strategic use of AI can help countries build knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and accelerate biodiversity action for people and nature.
- The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is testing purpose-built AI tools to improve access to trusted biodiversity knowledge and strengthen support for countries implementing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
- The Accelerator is committed to learning and modeling how to use AI strategically and responsibly.
- Every AI tool is designed to complement (not replace) human expertise, with people remaining at the centre of every decision.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to help countries take more efficient, strategic and informed action for biodiversity. The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is exploring this reality, using AI where it can meaningfully improve access to trusted knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and support implementation.
Leveraging AI for positive action
The Accelerator’s approach leverages AI where it can be used to support biodiversity action. One example of this is its use of internal AI-enabled matchmaking tools. These tools help the Accelerator’s MatchMaking Mechanism team conduct deeper research on technical and financial partners that can respond to country requests for support. Rather than replacing human expertise, AI in this context, helps surface a broader range of actors, including smaller and more specialized providers that might otherwise be overlooked.
The Accelerator is also piloting the NBSAP Knowledge Navigator, an AI-powered resource that allows users to ask questions directly against a library of trusted NBSAP guidance and reference materials. Instead of reading through dozens of reports, manuals and guidance documents, users can receive referenced answers grounded in carefully selected resources, helping them find information more quickly and in their own language. Every response is grounded exclusively in a curated library of trusted resources developed under the GIZ Global GBF Implementation Project, allowing users to explore reliable information with confidence.
The Knowledge Navigator project grew from discussions with GIZ partners in Bonn about finding new ways to make biodiversity knowledge more accessible than traditional collections of website links. The initiative reflects a broader vision across the United Nations: Using AI to reduce barriers to knowledge while ensuring information remains trustworthy. The approach allows users to ask questions in their own language and know that the answers come from reliable and vetted sources. Similar initiatives are emerging across the UN system to help people navigate complex environmental information more efficiently.
NBSAP Accelerator Partnership Technical Specialist, Nicole Lantz, described the intentions of the Knowledge Navigator project:
The idea is to reduce barriers to knowledge by making trusted information easier to access. It’s about overcoming language barriers, bringing reliable resources together in one place, and helping people find the information they need to advance their biodiversity goals. It’s encouraging to see other UN organizations exploring the same approach.
Considering environmental and social costs
The environmental footprint of artificial intelligence is becoming an important topic of discussion across the United Nations system. As more organizations explore how AI can support sustainable development, they are also examining how to minimise its impacts on energy use, water consumption and critical mineral demand. The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is part of this broader effort, seeking to apply AI in ways that maximise benefits while using the technology thoughtfully and selectively.
Looking ahead: AI as an accelerant
Looking ahead, the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership aims to help countries better understand how AI can be used responsibly to accelerate their own biodiversity goals and implementation efforts. The goal, as Technical Specialist Nicole Lantz explains, is to “learn how to use AI carefully and thoughtfully to accelerate positive action for development and nature.”
We can’t ignore this tool. It’s not going away. At the same time, the scale of what’s possible is enormous. AI can increase human capacity in remarkable ways, but we need to learn quickly how to use it responsibly.
By combining innovation with strong ethical principles and environmental responsibility, the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is demonstrating how the responsible and strategic use of AI can help countries build knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and accelerate biodiversity action for people and nature.
The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is a country-led initiative that supports the implementation of NBSAPs to collectively achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It is co-chaired by Colombia and Germany, supported by the governments of Germany, Norway, Canada and France, and coordinated by a Global Coordination Unit hosted by the Secretariat of the CBD, UNDP and UNEP.
The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is a country-led initiative that supports the implementation of NBSAPs to collectively achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It is co-chaired by Colombia and Germany, supported by the governments of Germany, Norway, Canada and France, and coordinated by a Global Coordination Unit hosted by the Secretariat of the CBD, UNDP and UNEP.
