This report was originally published on the Convention on Biological Diversity.
“The new Financial Sector Guide for the Convention on Biological Diversity aims to mobilise financial institutions to ensure a nature positive world, by fostering better understanding of nature’s importance for the financial sector, providing insight on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) process. The guide is the first of its kind between the CBD and partner organizations, and the financial sector.
Nature is important for the financial sector as its loss is putting our economies at risk. Members of the financial sector can contribute to curbing nature loss and aligning their financial flows to nature positive outcomes by:
- advocating and calling for an ambitious and transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework;
- collaborating and joining the initiatives in favor of biodiversity such as Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), Business for Nature and Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, a call to action and collective commitment for collaboration, engagement with companies;
- adapting their investment strategies and engage with companies;
- assessing their risks, impacts and dependencies;
- setting targets in line with global goals and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework; and
- reporting publicly on positive and negative contributions to biodiversity by using the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures or similar approaches.
Raising awareness on nature’s importance for the financial sector is becoming increasingly crucial. Continued biodiversity loss puts global economies at risk, and the financial sector, significantly exposed to nature, has a critical role to play to transform the current financial system, with a view to aligning financial flows for a nature positive world.
The guide is particularly timely as the world presently negotiates the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, due for adoption later this year in Kunming, China.
The guide, which is geared towards all financial institutions, stakeholders and partners, is the result of a collaboration between the CBD and four partners representing businesses and the private financial sector: Business for Nature, Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, PRI and the UNEP FI…”
