Investors are calling on governments to adopt measures within the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which would set a clear mandate for the alignment of financial flows with the preservation of global biodiversity.
150 financial institutions, representing over $24 trillion in assets made this call at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) summit, held on December 7 to 19 in Canada.
This year’s conference is to adopt a new landmark global biodiversity framework that safeguards nature, the first of its kind since the Aichi Biodiversity Targets were introduced in 2010.
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Coordinated by the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, it called on governments worldwide to adopt a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework for economic actors, including financial institutions, to take action to halt and reverse nature loss.
Human drivers are causing unprecedented damage to the natural environment, resulting in over one million animal and plant species being threatened with extinction, for the first time in human history. Signatories to the Statement include leading firms from across the investment industry, including: AXA Group, Legal and General Investment Management, Manulife Financial Corporation, Fidelity International, Groupe La Banque Postale, Shinhan Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, and UBS Bank.
The 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES) stresses that biodiversity loss must be halted and reversed by 2030 and brought on a path of recovery by 2050, to ensure future viability of our ecosystems. The step is vital to secure the ongoing security of investments around the globe.
Also, 2020 report from the World Economic Forum indicates that more than half of the world’s total gross domestic product is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its ecosystems. Unprecedented biodiversity loss, on the scale currently faced, would entail significant threat to global growth and financial security.
