From the 7th-19th of December 2022, the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will take place in Montreal, Canada. NatureFinance has a core delegation on the ground and is participating in a number of events during this period. Below, you will find the most up-to-date details of these events, with this page being updated on a regular basis in the run-up to COP 15.
NatureFinance COP15 Speaking Appointments
• 9th December: Aligning finance and economic incentives with biodiversity goals and targets:
CBD COP side event #5062 Youth Meeting Room – 513B, 13:15-14:45 EST
This event will highlight the importance and opportunities for aligning finance and economic incentives with biodiversity goals and targets, covering issues of direct relevance to draft targets 14, 15, 18 and 19. It will showcase insights from the CBD Expert Panel on Resource Mobilisation, two new OECD reports on “Identifying and assessing incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity: Good practice insights from national level studies”, and “Trends in biodiversity-related development finance, 2011- 2020”, and from UNDP BIOFIN.
Hosted by OECD
NatureFinance Speaker: Jeremy Eppel
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• 9th December: Value Chain and Bioeconomy in the Post 2020 Framework:
InterContinental Montreal, 360 Rue Saint-Antoine O, 15:00-16:30 EST
Eliminating deforestation in the value chain is critical to achieving both climate and biodiversity conventions. Study shows that the food production chain contributes at least 1/3 of total greenhouse gas emissions and major environmental impacts, reducing the quantity and quality of ecosystem services provided and increasing the risk of species extinction. Also, actions related to the recovery of degraded areas and promotion of the bioeconomy, with the generation of social, environmental, economic benefits and overcoming poverty, should be the basis of a new Brazilian economy, especially in the Amazon biome. This panel will promote the debate on the necessary elements to achieve the goals of the new global framework, bearing in mind the challenges of value chain management and the promotion of the bioeconomy.
Hosted by TNC
NatureFinance Speaker: Jeremy Eppel
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• 10th December: Scaling a Multi-Billion Dollar Biodiversity Market: Dream or Reality?
Place Quebec in the Palais de Congrès, Montreal, 08:30-10:00 EST
This session aims to provide a collaborative environment around solutions for the financialization of biodiversity to incentivize conservation and restoration efforts. The session will provide participants with an overview of the current state of biodiversity credit markets in terms of market size and current governance architecture. The panel and audience will then discuss how to scale capital flows into nature via biodiversity credit markets without jeopardizing market integrity, and the role of disclosure frameworks and regulation as well as digitisation (tokenisation) and valuation as part of the emerging nature market design.
For more information, click here.
Hosted by Global Canopy, Deloitte and EY
NatureFinance Speaker: Simon Zadek
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• 10th December: Increasing the Nature Alignment of Global Finance
Place Quebec in the Palais de Congrès, Montreal, 13:45- 14:30 EST Hosted by NatureFinance
Achieving the goals of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework requires not only significant mobilisation of resources but also the realignment of huge volumes of public and private finance towards nature positive, equitable outcomes. NatureFinance has developed a first of its kind Alignment Toolkit to allow national, international and corporate financial actors to assess their degree of alignment and support the changes needed to put them on the path to a nature positive, net zero future. At this event you will learn about the Alignment Toolkit and hear from partners in its development, and future users, about why it matters.
For more information, click here.
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• 10th December: People in the CBD Post-2020 biodiversity framework
Nature Positive Pavilion, small room, 16:30-17:30
The GBF needs to place people as part of biodiversity. Has it done so? We analyse where the discussions are at and add a plea for more focus on people as both the problem and the opportunity for the rest of biodiversity
The establishment process for the GBF has been on a difficult path to its current form. The major issue is lack of appreciation, and therefore focus, on the real role of people being part of biodiversity, not separate from it. The current framework, its goals and targets, has “protection” as the key focus, with insufficient attention to Indigenous peoples and local communities concerns, while also failing to treat business and other key sectors as partners in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. We will present some opportunities for new ways forward to resolve this dilemma and formulate a dynamic and adaptive GBF.
For more information, click here.
Hosted by The University of Canberra, & FAO
NatureFinance Speaker: Simon Zadek
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• 11th December: Sovereign debt for Nature: A mapping of Solutions to avoid ‘Too little Too late’ for nature-positive outcomes
Place Quebec in the Palais de Congrès, Montreal, 10:15 EST
The objectives of the session are:
-to raise awareness around potential instruments to deal with the double challenge of increasing debt and limited fiscal space and financing gaps to conserve and protect nature in line with the 2030 Agenda and global climate agendas;
-to engage with key stakeholders for evidence-based policy-making;
-and to increase visibility and transparency of debt for nature swap discussions through the COP 15 platform.
Hosted by UNDP
NatureFinance Speaker: Simon Zadek
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• 12th December: Aligning Financial Flows with Nature
Nature Positive Pavilion, 13:30 EST : Hosted by NatureFinance and WWF
This event will showcase new pathways for increasing the alignment of public and private financial flows with nature. Explore global Nature-Finance Alignment Tool being developed by NatureFinance to allow financial actors and governments to identify, measure and disclose their degree of alignment with nature. Take stock of the TNFD framework to guide companies and financial institutions to disclose their nature related risks and opportunities as well as the important role G7 countries have to play.
For more information, click here.
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• 12th December: The Nature Positive approach and the contributions of the finance sector to the Global Biodiversity Framework
Nature-Positive Hub, 18:30-19:30 EST
The objectives of the session are:
-to raise awareness around potential instruments to deal with the double challenge of increasing debt and limited fiscal space and financing gaps to conserve and protect nature in line with the 2030 Agenda and global climate agendas;
-to engage with key stakeholders for evidence-based policy-making;
-and to increase visibility and transparency of debt for nature swap discussions through the COP 15 platform.
Hosted by IUCN
NatureFinance Speaker: Jeremy Eppel
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• 13th December: Breakthrough in Analytics: Driving Innovation & Standards in Natural Capital
Large Room, Nature Positive Pavilion, 09:00 EST
Organized by the Capitals Coalition and The Landbanking Group, in collaboration with UNEP-WCMC and NatureFinance.
We must stop and reverse the loss of nature and move towards a cycle of natural capital accrual with every sovereign and business decision we take. Whilst pioneer governments start accounting for natural capital, market actors are unable to build, evaluate, hold and trade long-positions on positive nature outcomes. This requires a revolution of the analytics “MRV” sector which is rapidly underway: bioacoustics, metagenomics, imagery, Earth observation. But technological advancement will only converge towards a new nature asset class if intelligence is designed to provide information in resolution and format needed by the demand side: offsetting, insetting, investment and insurance markets. For more information, click here.
NatureFinance Speaker: Simon Zadek
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• 13th December: UN Decade Finance Task Force COP 15 Panel
Rio Pavilion, 17:30-18:45 EST
Ecosystem restoration is a key strategy for achieving a net zero future, providing opportunities for climate mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable economic development. Scaling up investments in restoration is critical to meet these goals, as well as a stronger collaboration between private financial entities, governments, multilaterals, and local communities. Speakers and participants in this session will discuss the challenges and opportunities for increasing restoration finance, building on the work of the UN Decade Finance Task Force (FTF). The session will provide a space to share promising solutions for financing, projects and business models that serve a blueprint for replicable and scalable approaches.
NatureFinance Speaker: Jeremy Eppel
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• 14th December: FINANCE AND BIODIVERSITY DAY – COP15, Breakout session 1: Mainstreaming biodiversity within public policies – ongoing initiatives and achievement
Place Quebec in the Palais de Congrès, Montreal, 14:15 – 15:15 EST
A discussion between representatives of leading initiatives for tracking, measurement, target setting and disclosures, as well as representatives of financial institutions. This will explore the linkages, differences, and synergies between a selection of initiatives, and explore takeaways from implementation of such frameworks by financial institutions. The session will provide an opportunity to unroll the link between measurement and reporting, and effective mainstreaming of biodiversity within the organization’s culture. More information here.
Hosted by CBD
NatureFinance Speaker: Jeremy Eppel
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