11 More financial institutions signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge

A total of 37 financial institutions, with €4.8 trillion assets under management, call upon world leaders to agree on effective measures to reverse nature loss in this decade.

9 December 2020 – ABN AMRO, the International Business of Federated Hermes, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, SCOR SE and Swedbank Robur are among 11 new financial institutions that have signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. We celebrated these new signatories during the European Business & Nature Summit (EBNS), organized by the Business and Biodiversity Platform of the European Commission and its partners on 8 and 9 December.

First Scandinavian financial institutions join the Pledge
This is the first time that Scandinavian institutions are represented with Swedbank Robur (Sweden) and PKA A/S (Denmark) as new signatories. The new total of 37 financial institutions represents 13 countries, spanning Australia, Europe and North America.

Finance for Biodiversity Pledge
The 37 banks, asset managers, insurers and impact funds collectively commit to collaborating, engaging, assessing their own biodiversity impact, setting targets and reporting on biodiversity by 2024 at the latest. An accompanying guidance document clarifies each commitment, providing sources and examples.

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.

Initiated by the members of the EU Finance & Biodiversity Community
The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge is a collective commitment by the finance sector itself. The Pledge was established by a group of European financial institutions which have been working actively as members of the Finance and Biodiversity Community, a Community of Practice hosted by the European Commission. The Pledge was launched by a group of 26 financial institutions during the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2020.

European Business & Nature Summit (EBNS)
At the EBNS, financial institutions and businesses came together with EU and Member State representatives, local and regional public authorities, civil society and academics to discuss and exchange knowledge on how they can contribute to rebuilding ecosystem health. The summit was a virtual event held on 8 and 9 December. The celebration of new signatories took place during the opening session on 9 December, 10–10.30am CET. EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness opened the session, followed by CIO key notes from Allianz France, Federated Hermes and Deutsche Bank stressing the urgency of incorporating the issue of biodiversity into finance decision making.

New signatories are very welcome to join
Financial institutions from any continent are strongly encouraged to join us. There will be a round of new signatories in Spring 2021.

The 37 signatories of the Pledge are (with the 11 new signatories shown in bold): ABN AMRO, Achmea Investment Management, ACTIAM N.V., Aegon Nederland N.V., Allianz France, ASN Bank, ASR Nederland, AXA Group, Bank J. Safra Sarasin, Bankinter, Caisse des Dépôts, Change Finance PBC, Domini Impact Investments LLC, DPAM, Etica Sgr – Responsible Investments, HSBC Global Asset Management, International business of Federated Hermes, Karner Blue Capital, La Financière de l’Echiquier, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Mirova, New Forests Pty Ltd, NN Investment Partners, NWB Bank, OIP Trust, Piraeus Bank, PKA A/S, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., Robeco, Rathbone Greenbank Investments, SCOR SE, Swedbank Robur, Triodos Bank, Triple Jump, UFF African Agri Investments, Vancity Investment Management and Volksbank.