‘We need to talk about biodiversity’ – Webinars on Corporate Engagement
In April, UNEP FI, the PRI, the Finance@Biodiversity Community and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation will organise two webinars on engagement with companies. On 12 April, we will offer guidance for financials on corporate engagement, and on 26 April, we will explore whether companies are ready for reporting and disclosing on nature-related risks and opportunities.
Webinar 1: How to engage with corporates?
12 April 2022, 2-3 pm CEST
Designed for institutional investors, this webinar highlights best practices and offers guidance on why and how to engage with companies on biodiversity. During the webinar, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation and the EU Finance@Biodiversity Community will launch a new guide on engaging with companies. This guide was co-authored by several members of the FfB Engagement with companies working group and builds on the practices shared and lessons learned during four workshops in 2021 organized by the Finance@Biodiversity Community. It aims to provide comprehensive information and guidance on biodiversity-related engagement with companies.
The webinar will also explore the Nature and Biodiversity Benchmark process, created by the World Benchmarking Alliance, and designed to measure and track corporate performance towards a nature-positive future by measuring how companies are reducing their impact and even regenerating ecosystems.
Financial institutions’ impact on global biodiversity levels is largely caused by the companies they finance or invest in. Engaging with these companies is an important strategy to reverse biodiversity loss. This is why ‘engaging with companies’ is one of the five commitments outlined in the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge.
Download the program of this webinar here
Webinar 2: Are corporates ready?
26 April 2022, 2-3 pm CEST
This roundtable webinar will examine whether companies are ready and well-positioned for reporting and disclosing on nature-related risks and opportunities. The webinar is focused on financial institutions as report users, but is also relevant for a corporate and an NGO audience. Based on recent publications from UNEP FI, UNEP-WCMC and WBCSD on corporate readiness for action towards nature, the discussion will focus on the current landscape for reporting and disclosure by corporates, in the context of the development of the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Risks (TNFD) disclosure framework.
Nature loss poses risks for business now and in the future but tackling nature loss also presents considerable opportunities. Financial institutions and corporates are still missing information needed to understand how nature affects immediate financial performance, or the longer-term financial risks that may arise from the organisation’s interactions with nature. Better information will play a key role in allowing financial institutions and companies to incorporate nature-related risks and opportunities into their strategic planning, risk management and asset allocation decisions. Awareness of and action related to financial risks from nature loss have been growing in recent years and have led to the development of frameworks or standards that are expected to generate more systematic information on nature-related impacts and dependencies, and at scale.
UNEP FI, UNEP-WCMC and WBCSD have carried out research on the readiness of corporates for such reporting and disclosure standards, in particular for the disclosure framework being developed by TNFD. They will discuss the results of their research with representatives from business and financial institutions, identifying the potential for uptake of future reporting and disclosure requirements.
Download the program of this webinar here