As concerns over climate change and environmental degradation grow, it’s more important than ever for organizations to take action to protect the planet. One such organization leading the charge is the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. The foundation is calling on financial institutions to take action and help reverse natural loss in this decade.
Understanding Finance for Biodiversity Foundation
The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, at its core, is a call to action and a collaborative platform for financial institutions. With the shared objective of reversing nature loss, this non-profit organization serves as a connecting hub, facilitating collaboration among financial institutions through its working groups and fostering connections with signatories and partner organizations. By joining forces through these working groups, financial institutions can play a pivotal role in addressing the biodiversity crisis.
The working groups
The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation works through various working groups that bring together financial institutions dedicated to driving change. These groups collaborate, share knowledge, engage with companies, assess impact, set targets, and report publicly on their efforts before 2025. By pooling their resources and expertise, these institutions can amplify their impact and create a positive ripple effect in biodiversity conservation.
The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge: A Commitment to Protect Our Planet
At the heart of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation lies a powerful tool for change – the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. This commitment, undertaken by financial institutions globally, calls upon them to prioritize and invest in biodiversity protection through their finance activities and investments. By signing the pledge, these institutions demonstrate their dedication to reversing the devastating trend of natural loss.
The pledge encompasses five fundamental steps:
• Collaborating and sharing knowledge: Financial institutions commit to fostering collaboration, sharing insights and expertise to enhance biodiversity preservation efforts.
• Engaging with companies: The pledge emphasizes the active engagement of financial institutions with companies, encouraging sustainable practices and accountability in relation to biodiversity.
• Assessing impact: Financial institutions pledge to evaluate and measure their impact on biodiversity, promoting transparency and accountability within their operations.
• Setting targets: The pledge requires financial institutions to set ambitious targets to drive tangible progress in biodiversity conservation, fostering a proactive approach to environmental stewardship.
• Reporting publicly on the above before 2025: Financial institutions commit to publicly disclosing their actions, progress, and achievements concerning the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge by 2025, promoting accountability and inspiring others to follow suit.
In total 126 financial institutions representing 21 countries and over 18.8 trillion euro in assets signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge in 2023.
Advisory Board
To ensure progress towards the Pledge commitments, the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation has established an Advisory Board. This board is made up of 11 representatives from financial institutions who are members of the Foundation. Its mission is to advise the Board on the executive strategy and ensure progress towards the Pledge commitments, in line with the Foundation’s mission to reverse nature loss by 2030.
Membership in the Foundation
Financial institutions that have signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge can become members of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. There are three types of membership available:
• Supporting Member: As a supporting member, the organization will receive regular updates on the working group outcomes and newsletters containing valuable information on biodiversity. Additionally, it has the opportunity to participate in two update meetings per year.
• Collaborative Member: the organization will have the chance to actively participate in the working groups. This involvement offers numerous benefits, including gaining knowledge through workshops, collaborating on the development of publications, supporting public events related to biodiversity, and engaging with other financial institutions to encourage them to sign the Pledge. As a collaborative member, it can also take part in all the activities and opportunities available to supporting members.
• Impact Member: as an impact member, the organization will have the opportunity to lead or co-chair a working group, taking charge of collective actions aimed at protecting and restoring biodiversity. In addition to this leadership role, it will actively contribute to communications, publicity, and public events related to our mission.
The number of members is growing and currently stands at 60 financial institutions.
The Importance of Finance for Biodiversity:
The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation recognizes the vital role that the Earth’s biosphere plays in human resilience and progress. With increasing stress on the environment, it is imperative that financial institutions commit to biodiversity conservation. By signing the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, these institutions demonstrate their dedication to protecting and restoring biodiversity through their financial activities and investments.
