Key summary: 

• The Accelerator Action Account (AAA) is the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership’s last-resort funding mechanism supporting high-priority, country-identified NBSAP actions that remain unmatched through the MatchMaking Mechanism and have no other viable source of funding. 

• The first portfolio, formally launched at CBD COP17, includes ten accelerated projects across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean: Five approved and under implementation, and five endorsed by the AAA Board and now developing full project documents. 

• Together they represent approximately USD 5.27 million in approved and indicative support, enabled by Germany's EUR 19.5M contribution through the International Climate Initiative (IKI). 

• The AAA operates as a Multi-Partner Trust Fund, with an independent Secretariat hosted by UNDP that works closely with the Partnership’s Global Coordination Unit.  

The Accelerator Action Account (AAA) responds to a simple question: Where are countries’ most critical NBSAP implementation needs still not being met? As a Multi-Partner Trust Fund, the AAA was built to fill these critical gaps, providing targeted support for high-priority, country-identified implementation needs that have remained unmatched through the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership’s MatchMaking Mechanism (MMM). The AAA backs projects that show promise for accelerating biodiversity action but have no other viable source of funding identified.  

Operational since late 2025, the AAA is part of the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, and complements the MMM. At this year's CBD COP17, it officially launched its first global portfolio, including ten country-led projects and priorities across three regions. Projects in Colombia, Cuba, Kenya, Peru, and Tajikistan have already moved into implementation, while projects in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe are advancing through development stages. 

As Anab Ovidie Grand, Secretariat Coordinator of the AAA explained, “Projects were selected because they respond to high-priority needs identified and endorsed by the countries themselves, and are directly linked to implementation of their NBSAPs and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework…They showed strong national ownership, readiness for implementation and the potential to generate lasting or replicable results beyond the period of AAA support.” 

How the AAA works 

The AAA complements the MatchMaking Mechanism (MMM), which connects country requests for support with a network of potential partners for strategic matchmaking. The first aim of the MMM is always a match. Countries define their priorities and the MMM creates opportunities for partners to respond. Throughout this process, the collective pipeline shows where significant gaps remain, and the AAA provides a targeted pathway for closing them. 

A request that remains unmatched after two full matchmaking cycles, and for which the country confirms that no other viable source of support exists, may be considered by the AAA. Each country identifies one priority request per year and selects an implementing organization. After eligibility review, prioritization and quality assurance, the AAA Board endorses requests for development into full project documents, which the AAA Secretariat approves before funding. 

Submission through the MMM does not guarantee AAA support. The process is selective by design, so that AAA decisions remain grounded in country demand, reflect the wider landscape of implementation gaps, and focus on priorities where the AAA can add the greatest value. 

What the evidence shows 

The rapidly growing MMM database (with more than 160 requests from 44 countries) provides a picture of where implementation is getting stuck. A gap analysis reveals where unmet needs cluster across regions, themes, and targets.  

• Africa accounts for roughly half of all requests, and nearly four in five remain unsupported.  

• Two in every three requests related to Target 20 (capacity building) and Target 21 (data and knowledge) remain unsupported. 

• More than four in every five requests related to Target 14 on integrating biodiversity into policies and planning remain unsupported. 

Drawing on this gap analysis and the country’s highest national priority, the AAA applies eligibility requirements, prioritization criteria, and quality-assurance processes to determine which requests may be considered for support. Eligible requests are further developed collaboratively with governments and implementing organizations with defined results, safeguards, and delivery arrangements. 

The first portfolio 

The AAA’s first portfolio includes five projects already in implementation and five further initiatives advancing through the project development phase following Board endorsement. These demonstrate the range of gaps countries have brought forward. 

Approved and under implementation (approximately USD 3.12 million): 

• Kenya, with IUCN: Operationalizing a permanent, government-led National Biodiversity Coordination Mechanism that brings institutions and stakeholders together, strengthens biodiversity data and reporting, and integrates national targets into planning across sectors. 

• Tajikistan, with UNDP: Establishing the country's first integrated system for managing invasive alien species, including a validated catalogue of priority species, risk-assessment protocols, a GIS-based database, and its first National IAS Programme and Action Plan. 

• Colombia, with UN Women: Turning the Gender and Biodiversity Action Plan into action through the Women Multipliers School, a National Network of Women Biodiversity Caregivers, and grants and technical assistance for women-led initiatives, prioritizing Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Colombians, and rural women. 

• Cuba, with UNDP: Strengthening early-warning and rapid-response systems across priority protected areas, training park rangers and partner institutions, and expanding participatory monitoring with communities, women and youth. 

• Peru, with UNDP: Building a youth-led network and digital platform to monitor ecological restoration, training 100 EcoSentinels to generate validated data for national monitoring, planning and Global Biodiversity Framework reporting. 

Endorsed and advancing through project development (approximately USD 2.16 million indicative): 

• Democratic Republic of the Congo, with WWF: Community-led Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures supporting the country's 30-by-30 commitment, with the AAA closing the remaining gap alongside other partners. 

• Mozambique, with IUCN: Strengthening national systems to combat illegal wildlife trade through electronic permitting, wildlife monitoring and intelligence-led enforcement. 

• Sierra Leone, with UNITAR: Building local knowledge, governance and institutional capacity so councils, traditional authorities and communities can take part effectively in NBSAP implementation. 

• Vanuatu, with BirdLife International: Developing a national biodiversity assessment and species-distribution maps as a baseline for planning, monitoring and conservation. 

• Zimbabwe, with UNEP-CCC: Developing the Mount Hampden Green City Framework as a model for integrating biodiversity, ecological connectivity and climate resilience into urban planning. 

Support for the long term 

The AAA's initial portfolio demonstrates the value of the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership’s integrated support architecture: the MMM supports countries to bring their needs to partners, while the AAA helps eligible, critical, high-priority unmet needs move from demand to implementation. Germany's contribution through the Multi-partner Trust Fund enabled the AAA to establish its systems, test its approach, and launch its first projects. The support is designed to leave behind lasting capacities, partnerships, evidence and financing pathways that help countries sustain and scale action once projects conclude. 

The number of requests submitted through the MMM has more than doubled since 2025, strengthening the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership’s global evidence base while also highlighting the scale of unmet NBSAP implementation needs. Expanding the AAA's contributor base will determine how many more nationally identified gaps can be addressed before 2030. 

At COP17, the Accelerator is showing the AAA in practice on Acceleration Day and at the Ministerial Event, with country representatives sharing about their engagements with AAA. 

Learn more: 

• The Accelerator at COP17 

• About the AAA 

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The Accelerator Action Account (AAA) is the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership’s last-resort funding mechanism for eligible, country-led NBSAP implementation priorities that remain unmatched and have a clearly defined gap in support. Established with support from the Government of Germany through the International Climate Initiative, the AAA operates as a Multi-Partner Trust Fund with its own Board and an independent Secretariat hosted by UNDP. The AAA Secretariat works closely with the Partnership’s Global Coordination Unit to identify critical gaps, develop quality-assured projects and help countries move their highest-priority needs into implementation. 

The NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is a country-led initiative that supports the implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to collectively achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Co-chaired by Colombia and Germany, it is supported by the governments of Germany, Norway, Canada and France, and implemented by a Global Coordination Unit hosted by UNEP, UNDP, and the Secretariat of the CBD. 

Originally published by the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership:  https://nbsapaccelerator.org/recent_news/accelerator-action-account-formally-launches-first-global-portfolio-at-cbd-cop17/