A new guide explains how financial institutions can contribute to the CBD COP15 process and how they can advocate for ambitious biodiversity policy after 2020. The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, which NextGreen founded together with Horde Advies, contributed to this guide along with others.

The Financial Sector Guide for the Convention on Biological Diversity is the result of a collaboration between the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Business for Nature, the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge and Foundation, Principles for Responsible Investment (the PRI), and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI). The guide is part of the broader engagement process currently being organized by the CBD Secretariat in the run-up to the global biodiversity summit in October. This process allows the global financial sector to provide input for the new biodiversity policy and the accompanying vision for 2050. Input is also being gathered on which actions should be prioritized in the implementation of this new policy.

On July 12, the co-chairs of the Open-Ended Working Group preparing the international negotiations also presented the first draft of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The following three questions are central to the Financial Sector Guide for the Convention on Biological Diversity:

1. Why is nature important to the financial sector?
2. How does the CBD work? What will be discussed during COP15, and why is this relevant for financial institutions?
3. What can the financial sector do?

The answer to the third question is structured in line with the five commitments from the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge and builds on the Guidance document from the Pledge. The Public Policy Advocacy working group under the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation was involved in the preparations for the CBD workshop on June 17 and 18.