A new key biodiversity platform for cross sectoral collaboration
For its inaugural launch, World Biodiversity Summit will help define what world leaders and the private sector in biodiversity and climate action need to do in the medium and long term to achieve sustainable development and hinder further biodiversity loss, focusing on partnerships and investment mechanisms as levers of progress. World Biodiversity Summit is a platform for responding to accelerating biodiversity loss, by using the Paris Agreement as a framework to learn from, promoting relevant solutions, innovations, and leadership networks, strengthening nature restoration and conservation. Nature-based solutions will be highlighted, from specificecosystems to global possibilities.
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
21 September 2023
SECOND, New York, USA
Alongside UNGA 78 & Climate Week NYC
Creating Pathways for
Nature-Positive Investments
2021 marked the launch of World Biodiversity Summit. In its inaugural year, the event successfully addressed the potential for science-based targets, ecosystem services, updated economic models and public-private partnerships to mitigate ecosystem degradation.
World Biodiversity Summit has grown since its inaugural year to become a leading platform tackling the most pressing issues in biodiversity. Its solutions-oriented approach is tailored towards maximising impact. By bringing together key stakeholders from across the global biodiversity arena, for the sharing of best practice and ambitious commitments, and the development of cross-sector partnerships.
World Biodiversity Summit measures impact through three indicators: Global, Sectoral and Organisational.
Until the world reaches its sustainability goals, including achieving net-zero emissions or protecting biodiversity, businesses need to do everything they can to avert more intense, irreversible climate and ecosystem meltdown. With the World Climate Foundation and through the World Biodiversity Summit, we are committed to work with partners and clients to change the game, plan transitions and disrupt existing industries.
Jean-Baptiste Perrin, Invent for Society Global Leader, Capgemini Invent
Global Impact
In addition to tackling biodiversity loss and climate change, the World Biodiversity Summit facilitates cross-sectoral collaboration to spur investment in Nature-based Solutions to close the nature finance gap.
The Summit reinforces global pathways for restored ecosystems, supports mitigation and adaptation to climate change through ecosystem restoration. The Summit connects its members to global policies and guides them to successfully achieve global frameworks such as the Kunming – Montreal Framework for biodiversity.
Sectoral Impact
World Biodiversity Summit works closely with the key sectors impacting nature and biodiversity. The Summit seeks and promotes the best practices across the most nature-impactful areas (such as forestry, agriculture and the water systems) in order to identify and scale up nature positive businesses opportunities while achieving the policies and global frameworks.
Different sectors of the economy (businesses, financiers, development banks and public institutions among others) benefit from the World Biodiversity Summit insights of nature-related risks, reporting measurements and opportunities, guiding them in the transition to a nature positive economy. World Biodiversity Summit also facilitates the necessary cross-sector conversation around the required paradigm shift in our consumption patterns and the need for nature-driven policy and financial systems.
Organisational Impact
Working together with businesses, asset managers, asset owners, governments and civil society around the world, the World Biodiversity Summit facilitates organisational-driven positive impact on nature.
By aligning different organisations across sectors with the global frameworks and existing nature partnerships, the summit aims to enhance biodiversity globally and to support Nature-Based Solutions that can reduce both Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss, as well as create jobs.
Nature and biodiversity provide social benefits, drive our economy, and help us cope with the challenges of climate change. Financial institutions play a critical role in funding supports for nature-positive projects and facilitating engagements with investee companies for better environment performances.
Sophia Cheng, Chief Investment Officer, Cathay Financial Holdings; Chair, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC)
Key Announcements
World Biodiversity Summit catalyses ambitious pledges from its partners. During the Summits, we are delighted to act as a platform for our partners’ strong and impactful nature commitments. Last year, these commitments included:
2022
H.E Erika Mouynes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Panama, announced at World Biodiversity Summit in New York that the Republic of Panama passed a law recognising nature’s “right to exist, persist and regenerate its life cycle”. Being one of the only three countries that has achieved the status of carbon negative country, Panama also achieved the goal of protecting 30% of its land and water before 2030, even committing to protect 40% of their total water by 2024.
Brenda Mallory, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality, The White House, announced in WBS NY the “America the Beautiful Initiative” which translates to the first national conservation goal to conserve at least 30% of US lands and waters before 2030. This initiative helps to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity while it also seeks at promoting more equitable access to nature and its benefits for all people in the United States.
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European Investment Bank (EIB) announced at World Biodiversity Summit in Montreal the publication of the report “Forests at the heart of sustainable development”. The publication provides a summary of the benefits, regulations, challenges and potential solutions for sustainability in the forestry sector. It highlights the positive impact on society, describes the laws and policies in place, and looks at the difficulties faced by businesses and investors in this industry.
2021
O’right announced their established green standards set, including:
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Eliminating all petrochemicals from their products to meet the criteria set by the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label
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Transforming agricultural by-products into valuable ingredients that meet the USDA biobased standards
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Reducing carbon emissions associated with packaging and building a solid and reliable green supply chain
Fresh del Monte announced their commitment to protect and preserve nature in and around their operations, including:
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Achieving 30% of their owned land conserved for biodiversity by 2030 and 100% of their global product volume certified as sustainably grown by a third party by 2025
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Implementing regenerative and soil health management practices in 100% of their owned and associated growers’ farms by 2030
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Planting and/or donating 2,500,000 trees by 2025
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Monitoring 100% of protected areas annually by 2025 by conducting an inventory of the species present in each reserve
Capital for Climate launched a new emerging investment platform for Nature-based Solutions, Rainforest Partnership launched the Rainforest Collective, a collaboration platform for urgent, sweeping forest protection and the creators of Ven from Hub Culture announced a new environmental cryptocurrency, Ven Oxygen (Vo2) which can be generated by protection of nature.