7 October 2026 | 14:00-15:00 CEST
On 7 October, we hosted the webinar, COP17 and the GBF Global Review: Priorities for the Alignment of Financial Flows as part of the We Need to Talk About Biodiversity series, in collaboration with he EU Business & Biodiversity Platform, UNEP FI and UN PRI.
The session explored key priorities for aligning financial flows with global biodiversity goals in the lead-up to COP17 and the GBF Global Review.
COP17 marks a critical juncture to advance the implementation of the GBF, with the first Global Review of Collective Progress set to take place. The national reports show that progress is off track, and the goal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 is in jeopardy. Finance-related targets – on mainstreaming, disclosures, subsidies, and resource mobilisation – are the least progressed. Financial institutions are mobilised to ask global leaders in Yerevan for 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.
This webinar explored how the GBF Global Review and policymakers could help guide the alignment of financial flows, with a focus on the needs and priorities of the biodiversity finance sector. Speakers also discussed initiatives building political and financial momentum ahead of COP17, including the need for policy clarity and incentive reform to guide business and finance along nature-positive sectoral transition pathways in a whole-of-economy approach to nature.
Bringing together perspectives from policy and finance, the session highlighted progress and persistent challenges in aligning financial flows with global biodiversity goals, as well as the need for clear government priorities to accelerate implementation of the GBF and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
Programme:
- Opening by Natacha Boric, Head of Policy and Positive Impact, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation
- Update on COP17 and GBF Global Review negotiations by Maria Zakaryan, COP17 Armenian Presidency
- Overview of biodiversity finance by Katia Karousakis, Programme Lead – Biodiversity, OECD
- Panel: Priorities and challenges for the biodiversity finance sector towards the nature-positive transformation of the real economy
- Moderated by Natacha Boric, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation
- Ben Allen, Senior Lead on Nature & Environment, Principles of Responsible Investment
- Barbara Calvi, Specialist – Blue Finance, FSD
- Karen Ellis, Chief Economist, WWF UK
- Sofia Denfeld, Senior Corporate Development Consultant, KfW
- Sonya Likhtman, Stewardship Director, Federated Hermes Limited
- Open Q&A session
- Closing remarks by Jessica Smith, Head of Nature & Academic Engagement, UNEP FI