Human activities are accelerating biodiversity loss at an unprecedented rate: according to IPBES, one million species are threatened with extinction and vast portions of ecosystems have been altered. As ecosystems degrade, the essential services they produce – food production, water purification, climate regulation, etc. – decline. As with climate change, this affects macro-economic stability by generating systemic socio-economic and financial risks, either physical or transitional.

Although complex, assessing these risks is crucial for sustainable socio-economic stability. It has progressed in recent years: AFD, for example, has developed several methodologies to measure economies' exposure to socio-economic and financial risks linked to biodiversity loss (see "To learn more"). On the other hand, unlike nature-related risks, nature-related opportunities are much less documented, which calls for further research.

Noting significant interest from the international community in its work, AFD has decided to supplement its publications by developing an open-access web portal.

This portal – which will assess at the country level the consequences of nature degradation on taxation, the economy and social protection – could be particularly useful to:

• Central banks, to identify economic sectors most exposed to disruptions due to biodiversity loss, and to anticipate necessary prudential policies related to transition risks;
• Ministries of Finance, to locate economic sectors where biodiversity loss could affect GDP, employment or taxation, as well as economic sectors more resilient to nature-related risks, and to identify economic and budgetary impacts of ecological transition policies;
• Public agencies in charge of biodiversity, to identify ecosystem services critical to maintaining socioeconomic and ecological resilience, and to target conservation policies using socioeconomic arguments;
• The private sector, to anticipate supply chain disruptions due to ecosystem degradation, to assess the impact of new environmental standards and to innovate to comply with them;
• Commercial banks/private equity firms, to map investments most exposed to nature-related risks and reallocate portfolios toward resilient assets, while identifying investment opportunities in innovative companies aligned with sustainability goals.

The project will unfold in three stages:

1. Development of a prototype on risks related to nature degradation

Building on AFD’s historical experience in socio-economic risk assessment and its numerous international cooperation on this subject, an initial prototype portal analyzing physical and transition risks linked to nature loss will be proposed to and challenged by partners, to consolidate and improve it through their feedback.The partners include three countries and three types of economic actors: DBSA, ie the development bank for Southern Africa; the Central Bank of Tanzania; the Department of Macroeconomic Policy within the Armenian Ministry of Finance; and the Financial Analysis and Forecasting Division (DEPF) of the Ministry of Finance of Morocco.

2. Addition of a module on opportunities related to nature preservation

A new module will be specifically developed and added to allow partners to analyze opportunities related to nature preservation, around two main areas of reflection:

• What are the economic activities that contribute strongly to a country's major macro-economic aggregates and that depend on ecosystem services in good condition, a condition that may be useful to preserve?
• What are the economic activities that also play an important socio-economic role in a country and that exert low pressures on nature degradation, activities that may be interesting to favor for a resilient transition?

3. Launch of an open and free version of the web portal

A free, open-access version of the portal will be made available by AFD, where it will be accessible to any user wishing to assess nature-related risks and opportunities in a given country, among the list of 150 countries covered. Users will be able to filter results on specific variables, adjust criticality thresholds, download calculation results, and generate graphs.

These data can inform actions aimed at better integrating biodiversity into public policies and reducing subsidies harmful to biodiversity (Targets 14 and 18 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework). It can also indirectly help reduce pressures on biodiversity and create sustainable opportunities for sustainable and desirable growth (Targets 7, 8, 10 and 11 of the Framework).

• Constance Gires, Nature expert and Coordinator of the project
• Antoine Godin, Head of the Macroeconomic Modeling Unit at AFD
• Julien Calas, Research fellow at AFD
• Paul Hadji-Lazaro, Research fellow at AFD

Rwanda, a landlocked and densely populated country in the Great Lakes region, has sustained strong growth for more than two decades, accompanied by significant improvements in living conditions for its population. Committed to climate action, the country has set ambitious measures to support a development path that is sustainable, inclusive, and growth-oriented. In 2025, Rwanda updated its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, with a strengthened target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 53% by 2035.

Although its contribution to global emissions is very low, Rwanda is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The Rwandan economy relies heavily on climate-sensitive sectors, particularly rainfed agriculture. This type of non-irrigated farming is especially vulnerable to variations in temperature and rainfall, as well as to the growing frequency of extreme weather events (floods, droughts, landslides, etc.). Rainfed agriculture accounted for 20% of GDP in 2025 and supports roughly 55% of the working-age population, whether through formal employment or as a secondary or subsistence activity. If harvests are affected, agricultural productivity, prices, and ultimately households could all suffer. For policymakers, the challenge is therefore to better understand and measure interactions between the economy and climate in order to anticipate and manage their consequences.

Using economic modeling, the ESTEEM Rwanda project aims to deepen understanding of the macroeconomic impacts (inflation, fiscal, external, and socioeconomic vulnerability, as well as inequality) that different climate shocks can have on the agricultural sector, as well as the levers that public authorities can use to mitigate these shocks.

Developed together with partner teams from BNR – who contribute to building the model through their expertise on agricultural and macroeconomic issues, as well as by providing data – the ESTEEM model will strengthen BNR's capacity to analyze the interactions between economy and climate dynamics.

Depending on the structure of their economy, their fiscal room for maneuver, and the strength of their social protection system, countries are more or less exposed to the risks and vulnerabilities generated by a transition to a low-carbon economy: these are known as "transition risks." Developed by AFD, the ESTEEM model helps identify these risks and thus supports anticipating them in order to foster a successful transition. It is tailored to the specific situation of each partner country to serve as a decision-support tool.

In previous projects, ESTEEM was mainly used to assess transition risks linked to climate change at a given point in time. As part of the ESTEEM Rwanda project, the models have been expanded to allow for detailed economic analysis of short-term physical risks (a five-year horizon).

Multisectoral and incorporating the constraint of limited resource availability, the ESTEEM Rwanda model is based on the input-output method and the theoretical model developed by the team. It is built by a team of AFD modelers working closely with BNR's research team, who will be able to use the model to refine their decision-making tools for monetary policy and to model various shock or adaptation scenarios.

By the end of the project, the National Bank of Rwanda will have a short-term macro-sectoral model, co-developed with the AFD team, to help understand the economic consequences of extreme natural events. Training sessions and workshops will enable BNR to use this tool to explore different scenarios. In addition, the project will lead to research publications, produced in partnership with BNR, as well as dissemination activities to share the results.

• Guilherme MAGACHO, Economist, AFD
• Élise CHRÉTIEN, Research Officer, Expertise France
• Laurent DÉJARDIN-VERKINDER, Economist, Expertise France
• Faustin MANIRAGUHA, Economist, BNR

Heatwaves, intense rainfall, prolonged droughts… As climate risks intensify, it is increasingly important to know whether adaptation measures implemented at the local level are actually reducing vulnerabilities and risks. Yet international debate remains largely focused on global indicators, such as the proportion of agricultural area using climate adaptation practices and technologies, or the proportion of population using climate-resilient water services. These indicators are useful but insufficient to capture local contexts, long-term trade-offs, and the risk of maladaptation—that is, measures that, paradoxically, may increase vulnerability rather than reduce it—faced by these territories.

In South Africa, Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay are particularly exposed to climate risks: both cities face significant pressures linked to water scarcity, heatwaves, coastal erosion and coastal flooding. Beyond the material consequences of these risks, the challenge is also political: how can the visions, values, and interests of multiple stakeholders—municipalities, scientists, practitioners, civil society, communities, and the private sector—be reconciled to build robust and equitable adaptation pathways?

To track progress on urban climate change adaptation, the Track Adapt research project aims to adapt the GAP-Track methodology (developed by IDDRI with support from AFD and ADEME), making it relevant at the urban scale, usable by relevant stakeholders, and replicable. To this end, the research team is working with stakeholders in two pilot cities: Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay.

Track Adapt focuses on three main questions:

1. How can the tool be adapted to the metropolitan scale?
2. What progress, gaps and needs emerge in two priority areas for these two cities: water security in the face of drought and heat, and coastal adaptation to erosion and flooding?
3. How can regular assessment of adaptation measures make it possible to compare progress over time and across cities?

This action-research will be particularly valuable to development actors, as it enables a shift from monitoring focused on plans and indicators toward a shared understanding of what actually reduces risk. It will help municipalities, AFD and their partners prioritize actions, strengthen capacities, guide financing, and inform dialogue on more equitable adaptation pathways.

Track Adapt contributes to AFD's efforts to strengthen urban adaptation, inform public policy dialogue, and direct financing toward relevant and effective solutions

In Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay, technical, institutional, and academic experts, as well as civil society and economic actors, will assess the progress and limitations of adaptation using a matrix structured around six dimensions: risk knowledge, plans, actions, capacities, evidence of risk reduction and adaptation pathways.

The project will bring together complementary expertise:

• The African Climate & Development Initiative, affiliated with the University of Cape Town (ACDI-UCT), will lead local engagement, stakeholder dialogue, and methodological development; 
• IDDRI will provide methodological expertise on GAP-Track; 
• Local stakeholders will validate the methodology and share experiential knowledge; 
• AFD will provide scientific input to adapt GAP-Track to the local context, facilitate scientific outreach toward concrete adaptation projects—in South Africa and other regions of operation—and share experience with French cities.

Learning Labs will translate research findings into priority actions, financing options, and replicable lessons.

Expected outcomes include a methodological note on applying GAP-Track at the urban level, participatory assessments on water and coastal issues in Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay, publications (project report, policy brief, research article, etc.), and multi-stakeholder workshops.

The project also aims to strengthen the capacities of municipal actors on adaptation; create a space for dialogue among scientists, practitioners, and decision-makers; and support the identification of investment priorities to bridge the gap between adaptation needs and the responses currently in place.