On 26 October, as part of the High-Level Segment at the UN Biodiversity COP17, Ministers and C-level representatives from leading financial institutions convened for the third Ministerial-Finance CEOs Dialogue, under the theme “The Future of Nature is Economic: Building Partnerships for Nature and Economic Prosperity”, building on the essential conversations held at COP15 in Montréal and COP16 in Cali.
The dialogue was co-hosted by the Armenian COP17 Presidency, the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, the UN CBD, and the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (CFMCA), in partnership with UNEP and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation.
Building on the dialogue initiated four years ago, the closed-door meeting provided a unique platform for ministers and C-level finance sector representatives to deepen discussions on integrating biodiversity into economic policies and frameworks and on developing the enabling environment needed for the finance sector to accelerate the alignment of financial flows with global biodiversity goals. Attendees shared experiences and discussed key barriers and challenges to achieving the goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The events started with powerful remarks on the urgency of accelerating GBF implementation and mobilising resources at scale to close the biodiversity finance gap by senior representatives from international organisations and national governments.
C-level FfB member financial institutions also attended the event. During an open dialogue moderated by a representative from a multilaternal development bank they had the finance sector had the opportunity to share their visions of the policies needed for driving the nature-positive economy transition.
- Louis Chang, CSO, E.Sun Bank
- Stephen Morency, CEO, Fondaction
- Jan Erik Saugestad, CEO, Storebrand Asset Management
- Jacco Minnaar, CCO, Triodos
The dialogue also featured interventions from ministers, government representatives, central banks, international organisations, and multilateral development banks, and from central banks.
An important message from a senior representative of an Indigenous Peoples’ organisation was also heard, urging finance sector leaders to ensure direct access to finance and the urgency of public and private resource mobilisation.
Following the conversations
The organisers stand ready to collaborate and continue this important dialogue between representatives of financial institutions and Ministers, especially Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Environment, on identifying and co-developing solutions to drive resource mobilisation, the alignment of financial flows, biodiversity mainstreaming, and economic and financial systems transformations. Sustained engagement will be essential to translating these discussions into concrete action and accelerating progress towards shared biodiversity goals.