Participants in the Finance & Biodiversity Community exchanged experiences on how to discuss biodiversity with companies in a series of four online workshops. In the final workshop, we learned from leading companies.

In 2021, the Finance & Biodiversity Community (part of the EU Business & Biodiversity Platform) focused on'Engagement with companies' as the central theme for sharing practical experiences and joint learning. When investors encourage sustainable behavior in companies by engaging in dialogue with them or voting at shareholder meetings, this is referred to as 'engagement'. Banks can also encourage sustainable behavior among their customers.

NextGreen facilitates the Finance & Biodiversity Community and organized workshops on this theme together with a number of participants and in line with the wishes of the community. The first three workshops focused on

1. April 29 – Experiences with and need for joint engagement projects related to biodiversity,
2. June 23 – Insights from experts at the World Bank, World Benchmarking Alliance, Nature Alpha, IUCN, and WWF, and
3. July 22 – Identifying sectors with the greatest impact on, and dependence on, biodiversity.

During the final workshop on October 4, leading companies discussed their work in the field of biodiversity and reflected on the role of engagement by financial institutions. Nadine McCormick (Nature Action Manager at WBCSD) kicked off the workshop with WCBSD's building blocks for nature-positive supply chains. These building blocks provided a valuable framework for structuring the insights gained from the discussions with speakers from Heijmans, Wienerberger, and Livelihood Ventures.

The Finance & Biodiversity Community and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation are currently building on the results of the workshops by writing an engagement manual for financial institutions.