20 new signatories to the Pledge

We welcomed 20 new signatories during the high-level opening event of the Nature for Life Hub, a side event at the UN General Assembly. The group of signatories has now grown to 75, representing over €12 trillion in assets under management and 17 different countries.

On Wednesday 22 September, Saker Nusseibeh, CEO of signatory the international business of Federated Hermes welcomed 20 new signatories to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. The total number of signatories to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge now stands at 75 and has almost tripled since the first launch by the 26 founding signatories exactly one year ago.

The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge is a commitment made by financial institutions to protect and restore biodiversity through their finance activities and investments. The signatories recognize that the Earth’s biosphere is the foundation of human resilience and progress, and that it is increasingly under threat. As financial institutions, they are prioritizing the need to protect biodiversity and reverse nature loss in this decade, ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2021.

Financial institutions that have signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge can become a member of the working groups of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. With this new round of signatories, the total number of members increased from 26 to 36. These members are sharing knowledge and collaborating on themes such as impact assessment, engaging with companies and public policy advocacy. Additional working groups on positive impact and target setting are set to follow next year.

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 December 2021.

Watch the video in which the new signatories were welcomed to the Pledge

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