Webinars on ‘Science-Based Targets for Biodiversity’
Leading companies, financial institutions and scientists have immersed themselves in developing Science-Based Targets for Biodiversity through a series of webinars. At the EU Business & Nature Summit in 2019, participants in the EU Finance and Biodiversity Community decided to further collaborate on the conservation and restoration of biodiversity and nature through their financing and investment activities. At the end of March, the plan was to meet business frontrunners and scientists to discuss ‘Science-Based Targets (SBT) for biodiversity’.
This meeting in Brussels could not take place, but was turned into a series of in-depth webinars ‘Science-Based Targets for Biodiversity: state of play and finance & business perspectives’. As lead of the EU Finance and Biodiversity Community, NextGreen co-organized this series of three webinars with the EU Business and Biodiversity Platform team, UNEP-WCMC and the SBT Network. In the online environment, scientists, companies and financial institutions expanded their knowledge of Planetary Boundaries and the Safe Operating Space. How do we connect the ecological footprint of the value chains of a company with local pressure on groundwater? And which data can be used to describe the health of local ecosystems and the impact that we have on this through land use and emissions?
Webinar 1: State of the art SBTs for biodiversity
The first webinar took stock of the current state of play and discussed practical experiences and questions from the Alpro and Axa Investment Managers in setting up Science Based Targets (SBT) for biodiversity. In preparation, an overview was made of SBT initiatives and various commitments for nature and biodiversity in the private sector was compiled for and by the participants and scientific experts.
Webinar 2: Allocation
The second webinar focused on how to use the efforts of different societal actors to achieve global biodiversity goals. This webinar provided an overview of existing scientific methods to translate global biodiversity targets into targets that are useful for countries and companies. After introductory presentations by, among others, Schneider Electric and CDC Biodiversité, the participants shared their insights and experiences in break-out sessions. They discussed the different allocation methods and the extent to which they can be applied to business practice and value chains.
Webinar 3: Measurability and current practice
In the third and final webinar of this series, the focus was on bottom-up approaches such as the work of Friesland Campina and ASN Bank that want to use SBT for biodiversity. Important challenges, such as defining the Safe Operating Space and allocating the share of the impact on biodiversity loss by companies, were discussed. The webinar also explored how top-down approaches can help resolve these challenges. This third and last webinar was interactive in nature and participants shared their experiences and questions in three online break-out sessions.
The recordings, slides, summaries and overview of SBT initiatives from this webinar series can be found on the webinar page ‘Webinar series on Science-based targets for biodiversity’.
Would you like to learn more or become involved in this development? Do not hesitate to contact us.
Read more here (in Dutch) about how NextGreen is supporting other transition processes with online collaboration.