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A Guide to Biodiversity & Nature-based Solutions for Financial Professionals

Under the theme ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’, the annual World Economic Forum 2023 will bring together more than 2,500 leaders from government, business and civil society, at a pivotal time for the world.

According to a recent survey by Morningstar Sustainalytics, 90% of companies either have or are developing a formal strategy to manage corporate environmental, social, and governance practices. This follows on the heels of a ‘Sustainability Action Report’ commissioned by Deloitte in December 2022, which revealed that 99% of public companies expect to invest in ESG reporting tech and tools in the next 12 months. 

The past year has been a busy one with three UK Prime Ministers, two different COPs and TCFD mandate for businesses. It has also been a a challenging one for companies with regards to ESG.  From an energy and cost-of-living crisis that emerged at the start of the year to key climate and biodiversity summits in recent weeks, 2022 has reinforced the need to tackle the climate crisis head-on.

As we foresaw, the impetus on biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions has further gathered momentum, with COP15 continuing to pave the way on how to deliver a net-positive impact on nature.

COP15 is taking place in Montreal, Canada, from 5 December to 17 December, more than two years after the summit was meant to have taken place. Delegates from across the globe are meeting to produce a Paris Agreement-style deal for nature, resulting in an end to the degradation of biodiversity and the acceleration and mainstreaming of work to restore ecosystems and habitats.

We recently did a poll on whether we need to see more positive news to create optimism and momentum to drive solutions and change or if we need to be confronted with the stark reality of climate change, with a clear split in the results.

Following the two-week climate summit in Egypt, representatives and negotiators from across the globe reached a series of conclusions; the most prominent of which being support for climate victims in the form of a loss and damage facility – with a commitment to set up a financial support structure for the most vulnerable by the next COP in 2023.

In July, the United Nations General Assembly declared that everyone has the right to live in a healthy, sustainable environment. In so doing, it recognised that the well-being of our society is inextricably bound to the functions of the natural world.