The inaugural Summit marks solutions to biodiversity restoration as a key contributing factor in solving climate change
The World Biodiversity Summit was successfully launched yesterday as an in-person and digital event alongside COP26 in Glasgow. The full-day event gathered stakeholders across public and private sectors and attendees from across the globe.
The Summit focused on strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration and sharing actionable methods on how to scale up investments using the required nature-based solutions.
World Biodiversity Summit serves as a springboard in our long-term goal of creating an ongoing actionable network for cross-sectoral commitments, raising ambition and action towards biodiversity restoration as a bridge to climate change solutions.
Key conclusions
The cost of inaction is the greatest of all and it is one we cannot afford. A major shift in policy frameworks is required, prioritising how we repurpose finance subsidies in working for nature rather than against it. We need to escalate public-private collaboration to channel investments in nature-based solutions to forestry and land management, resilient food systems, regenerative agriculture, and to the blue economy. There is a substantial amount of untapped potential for innovation and technology to support all of our planet’s systems, however, a paradigm shift in our consumption patterns is required in tandem with the nature-driven policy and financial systems that are needed.
Announcements
Our Summit collected a number of new, impactful commitments, including biodiversity restoration commitments by Fresh Del Monte, Stora Enso and O’right, emerging product development as an investment platform by Capital for Climate, a new environmental initiative by the creators of Ven, the Hub Culture and the launch of Rainforest Collective by Rainforest Partnership.
These novel commitments set the tone for other organisations to follow, from all sectors alike.
Key presenters
The World Biodiversity Summit 2021 was proud to engage His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Minister Zakia Khattabi from the Government of Belgium, Minister Maria Do Céu Antunes from the Government of Portugal, Senior Vice President, Sustainability Transformation, John Kornerup Bang at Stora Enso, Chief Sustainability Officer Hans Sauter from Fresh Del Monte, Dr Agnes Kalibata, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, and Margaret Kuhlow, Global Finance Practice Leader at WWF International amongst others from our phenomenal first line-up.
An outcome report with further insights into the conclusions and announcements from World Biodiversity Summit will be issued in a few weeks. If you missed out on the event or any of the sessions, the Summit will also be available on demand on the World Biodiversity Summit website soon.
Thank you to everyone involved in the World Biodiversity Summit - both partners, speakers and delegates for your participation and contribution to the event. We look forward to continuing the work of bridging biodiversity and climate. Leading up to the final in-person negotiations on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in Kunming, we will continue to play our part in establishing a more permanent cross-sector stakeholder network within biodiversity, accelerating investment-driven solutions.
We hope to see you at our upcoming events in 2022!
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