2.4.3 Constituting the national BIOFIN team
BIOFIN is usually led by a single organization within government, ideally the Finance Ministry, which hosts the dedicated team of experts hired to undertake the technical work and coordinate day-to-day management. The team’s composition is determined by the national context and capacity needs. Members can be seconded from government or hired for a specific duration. The core functions can be filled on a full-time or part-time basis as deemed necessary while experts might cover one or more roles. These are:
Team Leader (Senior Finance Expert) – Senior public/private finance expert with a high and respected profile. She/he is responsible for liaising with decision makers, advocacy and reviewing the technical products. She/he leads the preparation of the Finance Plan. Multiple countries mobilized former senior public servants (e.g. the former Minister of Finance in Costa Rica and the former Secretary of Finance in Bhutan).
Project Coordinator – Manager responsible for day-to-day BIOFIN activities, planning and reporting, monitoring and evaluation, human resources, etc.
Policy Expert – Biodiversity expert with sound understanding of public policy processes and public finance management. She/he is responsible for completing the Policy and Institutional Review.
Environmental Finance Expert – Lead expert with a solid background in public finance and or accounting. She/he is responsible for completing the Expenditure Review and Needs Assessment.
Finance Specialist(s) – Junior experts to contribute with data collection and analysis.
Figure 2.8: Schematic Overview of the Ideal Composition of a National BIOFIN Team
