18 new signatories to the Pledge

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On 21 May, on the eve of the International Day for Biological Diversity, we welcomed 18 new signatories to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. The group of signatories has now grown to 55 financial institutions from 15 different countries. We celebrated this milestone during the Global Biodiversity Festival.

Philippe Zaouati, the CEO of Mirova, welcomed the new signatories. Will McDonald of Aviva (Director of Sustainability) and Clarisse Simonek of Ossiam (Head of Responsible Investment and Sustainability) explained why biodiversity is so important for the finance sector and why their organizations decided to join the Pledge. The event was moderated by BBC presenter and National Geographic explorer Paul Rose.

With Resona AM, the first Asian institution has joined the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge as part of this new cohort. The 18 new signatories are: Amundi, Aviva Plc, Edmond de Rothschild AM, Federal Finance Gestion, First Sentier Investors, Fondaction, Jupiter AM, Klaverblad Verzekeringen, Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM), Nia Impact Capital, ODDO BHF Asset Management, Ossiam, Pymwymic Investment Management B.V., Resona AM, Schelcher Prince Gestion, Storebrand AM, Sycomore AM and Vert Asset Management.

The 55 signatories commit to assessing their own biodiversity impact by 2024 at the latest. They promise to set targets for reducing their negative impact on biodiversity and increasing their positive impact. They also commit to monitoring their progress towards these targets and reporting on this. Because a major aspect of financial institutions’ biodiversity impact is the companies that they invest in, engagement with companies is needed to reverse global biodiversity loss.

The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge was initiated by members of the EU Finance@Biodiversity Community, which is hosted by the European Commission as a part of the EU Business@Biodiversity Platform. As the lead of this EU F@B Community, NextGreen and de Horde Advies are also coordinating the activities around the Pledge. The next group of signatories will join in September 2021.

Watch the video including statements from the CEOs, made to celebrate 18 new signatories.

Watch the session during the Global Biodiversity Festival.

Read more about this project at the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge project page.