FfB Foundation calls on global leaders to set clear priorities to accelerate GBF implementation and align financial flows with nature

12 October 2026

As countries prepare to gather in Yerevan, Armenia ahead of the UN Biodiversity COP17, Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation today publishes its Policy Expectations, calling on global leaders to provide a clear and actionable roadmap for implementing the finance-related targets of the GBF.   

FfB Foundation will lead a delegation of financial institutions to the conference, which will mark a pivotal moment to advance the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), with the first Global Review of Collective Progress taking place in Yerevan.  

FfB Foundation’s Policy Expectations document builds on the FfB Public Policy Advocacy working group’s feedback on the CBD consultation on the draft global report for the GBF Global Review in June 2026.  

With the Global Report on Collective Progress revealing stark gaps between political commitments, policy implementation, and measurable outcomes – particularly on finance-related targets 14, 15, 18 and 19 — FfB Foundation calls on governments to: 

1. Ensure the Global Review drives the accelerated implementation of the GBF, with actionable, finance-oriented priorities. 

1. Strengthen the assessment of the alignment of financial flows 

1. Operationalise the Cali Fund. 

Financial institutions urge global leaders in Yerevan to establish a clear set of priorities to guide the financial system transformation under the GBF. They call for the loss of biodiversity to be managed as a systemic financial risk, as ecosystem services underpin economic activity, stability, and resilience. 

FfB Foundation’s full Policy Expectations can be found here. 

The FfB Community at COP17 

With over 200 financial institutions in its community, from 29 countries, managing over €20 trillion A(UM) in total, FfB Foundation highlights the pivotal role of finance in halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.

Within its community, FfB Foundation sees that, despite barriers, financial institutions are making progress on nature, and FfB members can showcase how they are moving beyond commitments to action. The private finance sector has the appetite to close the biodiversity finance gap but at COP17 FfB Foundation will stress that the sector urgently needs policymakers to put in place the enabling environment to do so. This is critical to achieving the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). 

At COP17, FfB Foundation is an observer of the Cali Fund for civil society, building on its deep involvement with the CBD, and will continue to follow the negotiations on the Global Review, the mainstreaming of biodiversity across economic sectors, the resource mobilisation strategy, and the monitoring of biodiversity finance flows.   

Anita de Horde, Co-founding Executive Director, FfB Foundation, states:

“Governments are not taking sufficient action to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework and meet its 2030 targets, with finance-related targets showing the least progress. COP17 must prioritise aligning financial flows with nature. This requires governments to urgently reform subsidies and create an enabling environment for financial institutions and business to play their full part in addressing biodiversity loss.”

 

Emine Isciel, Head of Climate and Environment Storebrand AM, FfB Foundation Public Policy Co-chair, comments:

“COP17 needs to address the policies that are still directing capital towards nature loss. That means accelerating the reform of environmentally harmful subsidies, establishing credible nature-related disclosure requirements, and integrating nature into transition planning and financial supervision. Without these measures, aligning financial flows with the Global Biodiversity Framework will remain an ambition rather than an outcome.”

 

Sonya Likhtman, Stewardship Director, Federated Hermes Limites and FfB Foundation Public Policy Co-chair, adds:

“COP17 must make a meaningful step towards successful implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, including the targets most relevant to business and finance. The decline of nature and biodiversity is a systemic financial risk, while reversing the trend presents an opportunity for enhanced stability, innovation and resilience. The Federated Hermes Limited delegation looks forward to engaging with Parties and other stakeholders in Yerevan across priority focus areas, including incentive reform and the mainstreaming of nature in decision-making across economic sectors.”