20 more financial institutions sign the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge
75 signatories represent in total over €12 trillion in assets and 17 countries
STOA Infra & Energy, La Banque Postale Group, Fidelity International and Manulife Investment Management are among the 20 new financial institutions that have signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. The celebration of the new signatories was held during the high-level opening event of the Nature for Life Hub, the side event of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday 22 September 2021.
The total number of signatories now stands at 75 and has almost tripled since the first launch by the 26 founding signatories exactly one year ago.
Saker Nusseibeh, CBE – CEO of current Pledge signatory International at Federated Hermes, welcomed the new signatories during this event of (non-)state actors, which is co-organised by Antigua & Barbuda, AOSIS, Belgium, Bhutan, Colombia, Costa Rica, the EU, France, Gabon, the UK, Vietnam, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), National Geographic & Campaign for Nature, UNEP, UNDP and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to showcase actions being taken to protect, conserve, sustainably use and restore nature and close the finance gap.
Charles-Henri Malecot, CEO of new Pledge signatory of STOA Infra & Energy says: “As an additional impact fund, STOA promotes the development of sustainable economies through financing essential infrastructure in emerging markets. Infrastructure can greatly impact local biodiversity, both positively and negatively. By joining the Pledge, we want to commit to the protection of biodiversity by elaborating practical solutions.”
5 commitments
The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge is a commitment of financial institutions to protect and restore biodiversity through their finance activities and investments. The Pledge consists of 5 steps financial institutions promise to take:
- Collaborating and sharing knowledge
- Engaging with companies
- Assessing impact
- Setting targets
- Reporting publicly on the above before 2025
Urgent need to preserve biodiversity
The signatories recognize that the Earth’s biosphere is the foundation of human resilience and progress, and that it is under increasing stress. As financial institutions, they emphasize the need to protect biodiversity and to reverse nature loss in this decade, ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2021.
Working groups
Financial institutions that signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge can become a member to join the working groups of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. With this new round of signatories the total number of members increased from 26 to 36. The members are sharing knowledge and collaborating on topics like impact assessment, engaging with companies and public policy advocacy. Additional working groups on positive impact and target setting are likely to follow next year.
Another round of signatories in November
There will be another round of signatories during the European Business and Nature Summit on 30 November and 1 December 2021. The deadline for new signatory financial institutions to register is 19 November 2021. See more information and read the registration procedure here.
The 75 signatories to the Pledge are (with new signatories shown in bold):
ABN AMRO, Achmea Investment Management, Achmea, ACTIAM N.V., Aegon Nederland N.V., Allianz France, Amundi, ASN Bank, ASR Nederland, Athora Netherlands NV, Aviva Plc, AXA Group, AXA Investment Management, Bank J. Safra Sarasin, Bankinter, Caisse des Dépôts, Change Finance PBC, CNP Assurances, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, Crédit Mutuel Asset Management, Crescent Capital Group LP, Demeter Partners, DNB Asset Management AS , Domini Impact Investments LLC, DPAM, Edmond de Rothschild AM, EGAMO, Etica Sgr – Responsible Investments, Federal Finance Gestion, Fidelity International, First Sentier Investors, Fondaction, GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG, Groupe MGEN, Groupe VYV, Harmonie Mutuelle, HSBC Global Asset Management, Incofin Investment Management CVA, International business of Federated Hermes, Jupiter AM, Karner Blue Capital, Klaverblad Verzekeringen, La Banque Postale Group, La Financière de l’Echiquier, Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM), Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Mandarine Gestion, Manulife Investment Management, Mirova, New Forests Pty Ltd, Nia Impact Capital, NN Investment Partners, NWB Bank, ODDO BHF Asset Management, OIP Trust, Ossiam, Piraeus Bank, PKA A/S, Pymwymic Investment Management B.V., Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., Rathbone Greenbank Investments, Resona AM, Robeco, Schelcher Prince Gestion, SCOR SE, STOA Infra & Energy, Storebrand AM, Swedbank Robur, Sycomore AM, Triodos Bank, Triple Jump, UFF African Agri Investments, Vancity Investment Management, Vert Asset Management and Volksbank