Biodiversity Fund
The Volkswagen Group Biodiversity Fund is a long term sustainability investment. Its objective is to contribute worldwide to the protection, restoration, and promotion of biological diversity, addressing biodiversity loss as one of the defining environmental challenges of our time.
The Biodiversity Fund focuses on five strategic areas of action:
- Strengthening ecosystems: Supporting selected projects that deliver positive impacts for biodiversity and ecosystems.
- Contributing to sustainability goals: Advancing the Group‑wide environmental and sustainability ambitions.
- Making engagement for nature visible: Collaborating with experienced partners from nature conservation, science, and civil society.
- Promoting future‑oriented solutions: Supporting nature‑based approaches that generate ecological and societal value.
- Enhancing resilience: Contributing to the long‑term preservation of natural life‑support systems and stable value‑creation systems.
Projects supported by the Volkswagen Group Biodiversity Fund are expected to be consistent with the overarching objective of contributing to a nature‑positive future. While projects are not required to explicitly follow a single predefined framework, they should demonstrably align with internationally recognized goals, principles, or reference frameworks for biodiversity protection and restoration, where relevant to their scope and geography.
This ensures that funded activities are embedded in a broader global context and contribute to collective progress towards halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
“Protecting biodiversity is a fundamental prerequisite for resilient ecosystems, stable livelihoods, and future proof economic activity. As a global industrial company, we take responsibility and specifically support projects that combine scientifically sound nature conservation with measurable impact. Through our partnership, we promote sustainable structures worldwide.”
Guidelines for Project Funding
Reference frameworks and global goals
Where appropriate, projects are encouraged to demonstrate alignment with relevant international biodiversity goals and frameworks, such as the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Planetary Boundaries framework, or IUCN conservation standards.
Alignment may be demonstrated, for example, through contributions to ecosystem integrity, restoration targets, or the sustainable use of natural resources at a landscape or seascape level.
Transparency & Impact
The funded projects are supported by both the Volkswagen Group and ERM throughout their entire implementation period. This support is grounded in an impact-oriented monitoring approach structured around the fund’s Theory of Change, which ensures transparency regarding how project activities trans-late into measurable results and long-term positive impacts for nature and biodiversity. Defined indica-tors are collected regularly over the lifetime of each project and funding period to systematically track progress and assess impact in a transparent manner.
In addition, an annual impact report is prepared and published to communicate the fund’s contribution to intended results and long-term impacts. This enhances transparency on achieved impacts, supports the continuous improvement of measures, and generates insights to inform future funding decisions. In doing so, the Volkswagen Group Biodiversity Fund goes beyond financing individual activities and systematically builds evidence on what contributes to effective biodiversity protection, restoration, and regeneration.
Funding focus
The Biodiversity Fund supports projects that make a clear contribution to the protection, restoration, or sustainable use of ecosystems. Particular consideration is given to projects that:
- deliver demonstrable ecological added value,
- are designed for the long term or are scalable,
- actively involve local stakeholders and communities, and
- are based on recognised scientific or conservation approaches.
Funding framework
In each funding cycle, a limited number of projects is selected. Funding cycles are planned on an annual basis. Selected projects may currently receive funding through to 2029.
Selection process
The selection of funded projects follows a structured, five-stage process designed to ensure transparency, robustness, and positive biodiversity outcomes, while enabling well-founded, traceable, and quality-assured decision-making.
Organisations are invited to submit their proposals in response to the fund’s calls for projects. All applications undergo an initial review to ensure strategic alignment with the fund’s objectives and compliance with defined eligibility, governance, and social and environmental safeguard requirements. Eligible projects are then assessed against transparent pre‑selection criteria, including their potential biodiversity impact, strategic relevance for a nature‑positive future, feasibility, risk profile, and the implementing organization’s capacity. Shortlisted projects are subject to an in‑depth technical and ecological evaluation. Final funding decisions are taken by the designated decision‑making body, supported by the Volkswagen Group Sustainability Council. Selected projects are formalized through cooperation agreements and are monitored throughout the funding period to ensure impact delivery and accountability.
Further details on the project selection process are outlined in the documentation.
Final funding decisions are taken by the designated decision‑making body, supported by the Volkswagen Group Sustainability Council. Selected projects are formalized through cooperation agreements and are monitored throughout the funding period to ensure impact delivery and accountability.
Further details on the project selection process are outlined in the documentation.
Application
The next application phase will begin shortly. Projects interested in applying can find further information in the attached documents.
The application process will be conducted online. The corresponding web link will be published on this page in due course.
