FfB Foundation Urges World Leaders to Implement Concrete Actions to Align Financial Flows with the GBF Ahead of COP16
As the world gathers for the upcoming UN Biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia, the Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation has today published its policy expectations, calling on global leaders to implement concrete actions to align public and private financial flows with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The FfB Foundation, coordinating the FfB Pledge signed by 177 financial institutions from 28 countries, managing over €22 trillion in assets in total, underscores the pivotal role of finance in halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.
The alignment of public and private financial flows with the GBF is essential to achieving the framework’s ambitious goals of protecting and restoring biodiversity. The FfB Foundation, a long-standing observer of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and an active member of the Advisory Committee on Resource Mobilisation, has played a crucial role in supporting the development of GBF’s Goal D and Target 14, which focus on aligning these financial flows.
COP16 Policy Expectations
The FfB Foundation’s Public Policy Advocacy working group calls on world leaders to ensure that the Resource Mobilisation Strategy, which is to be agreed at COP16, provides Parties with a clear direction and actions that will enable them to implement the alignment of public and private financial flows with the goals and targets of the GBF, including Goal D and Targets 14, 15, 18, and 19. There should also be clear mechanisms to monitor progress and hold governments accountable for implementing these parts of the GBF with meaningful indicators.
“Governments must seize this moment at COP16 to demonstrate leadership and commitment to aligning financial flows with biodiversity goals,” said Emine Isciel, Head of Climate and Environment at Storebrand Asset Management and co-chair of the FfB Foundation working group on Public Policy Advocacy. “While voluntary actions by the private sector are crucial, they are insufficient without a supportive policy environment. We need strong regulatory frameworks and economic incentives that ensure financial institutions and businesses contribute to nature-positive outcomes.”
“The financial materiality of biodiversity loss and the decline of ecosystem services, including the systemic risk posed to the global economy, is well documented”, said Sonya Likhtman, Associate Director – Engagement at Federated Hermes Limited and co-chair of the Public Policy Advocacy working group at the FfB Foundation.
“Since COP15, nature and biodiversity loss have remained critical focus areas for our company stewardship, investment, and policy engagement. It will be essential that the role of business and finance in addressing biodiversity loss remains on the agenda at COP16. We encourage governments to maintain momentum on aligning public and private financial flows with biodiversity goals and targets. The private sector needs clear policy signals to streamline and accelerate action on nature. At the heart of this is the transition required across sectors of the real economy to support the mission of halting and reversing biodiversity loss in this decade”, she added.
Clear Policy Signals and Sectoral Transformation Pathways Needed
The economic activities of many sectors are driving biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. Governments must take decisive action to create financial incentives that reward businesses adopting sustainable practices while pricing in the environmental externalities of those contributing to nature loss. Financial institutions and businesses require clear policy signals and sectoral transformation pathways that focus on transitioning underlying economic activities across operations and supply chains.
National implementation strategies should include a coherent and comprehensive whole-of-government approach to mobilise action from the private sector. We believe that Finance Ministers in particular play a critical role in implementing the GBF in a whole-of-economy approach. The FfB Foundation’s policy position paper, Aligning Financial Flows with the Global Biodiversity Framework: Translating Ambition into Implementation, outlines key policies that can help implement this alignment.
Anita de Horde, Co-Founding Executive Director of FfB Foundation, commented: “At the moment we don’t see concrete actions from governments on the implementation of targets 14, 15, 18 and 19 of the GBF reflected in their national strategy and action plans. As we face an unprecedented biodiversity crisis, aligning financial flows with nature-positive outcomes is critical. Governments must act swiftly and decisively to enable businesses and financial institutions to contribute to the global effort to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.”
The FfB Foundation urges world leaders to take immediate action at COP16 to create the necessary frameworks and incentives that will empower the financial sector to drive positive change for nature and biodiversity.