CISL COP16 events round up

31 October 2024 - We came to COP16 with 4 recommendations to leaders to shift the dial on the nature crisis. Here we look back at the takeaways from all of our key discussions on these topics during the conference: 

1. Shift the narrative 

In our final panel we heard fascinating insights from leaders across business government, and finance on the mindset shift & collaborative leadership action needed to transform our economies towards a nature positive future. 

The discussion was led by our Chief Innovation Officer, James Cole, with CISL Fellow Tony Juniper, Helena Pavese from Suzano; Leo Fleck from Santander; and Akanksha Khatri from the World Economic Forum explored new ways of approaching economic growth that truly integrate and value nature. Our key takeaways of what is needed to shift the narrative: 

• New indicators of growth which include social equality and ecological wellbeing. 

• Transformation of all sectors pushing in similar directions. 

• Purpose (instead of profit) led business to improve stability for people, nature and climate. 

• Scaling finance by aligning incentives and regulation. The private sector needs to advocate for this to unlock capital. 

Watch the livestream of the event below:

Shift the narrative panel

2. Embed nature in economic, policy and commercial decision-making 

We engaged business and finance practitioners at a workshop on our ground breaking research which demonstrates the opportunities for scaling up nature-positive business and finance models. Our key takeaways: 

• Nature finance is not conservation finance. It’s finance that contributes to nature restoration. 

• Policy direction is needed for business and finance to scale.  

• Incentives also needed - there will be no value of nature if this doesn’t happen at a systemic level. 

• We don’t need more mechanisms - we need more ambition with existing mechanisms. 

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We engaged the finance sector on operationalising private finance for nature, exploring how the sector can actively contribute to nature finance through both nature conservation and nature recovery. The event brought nature conservation from the periphery into the heart of financial strategies, exploring synergies between National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and private capital and investment that offer real opportunities for nature. Our key takeaways: 

• Collaborations among financial institutions, policymakers, and the private sector are crucial to ensure that NBSAPs align with both biodiversity goals and business opportunities. 

• Success at COP16 means building and harnessing the momentum to drive political will to achieve the GBF targets in just 6 years’ time. 

• Consensus on what good looks like for nature positive is needed to give clarity and confidence to the finance sector. 

• Examples needed that demonstrate companies seeing nature recovery speaking to their bottom line. 

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We also engaged the finance sector on:  

• The implications for nature investment opportunities associated with the EU Restoration Law & how the private sector, multilateral development banks and investors can engage in new opportunities for nature finance. Dr Nina Seega joined a discussion, led by the EU Commission, on how the aims of the law will be pursued & the types of policies that will influence nature investment opportunities to deliver the law’s nature restoration goals.   

• How to scale market capacity, so reporting is embedded across intuitions, sectors and geographies. Dr Nina Seega joined a discussion, led by TNFD, on how to empower organisations to integrate nature related assessments and disclosures, and the importance of sharing best practices to equip participants with the tools and knowledge to drive change.   

We engaged MEPs of the European Parliament COP16 delegation on how to finance and scale action on nature – a critical moment where decisions are being taken on how to achieve the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework. Key takeaways: 

• Businesses support and are calling for regulation and a robust policy framework to drive action on nature, as there is no business on a dead planet. 

• Investing in nature is an opportunity for the finance sector rather than a pure risk, and is critical to ensuring the resilience of nature positive business models. 

• Corporate Leaders Groups are committed to working closely with governments to raise ambition towards a nature-positive future. 

COP16 MEPs event

We explored how to build resilience through Nature Positive Strategies across real-economy sectors. Our Chief Innovation officer joined a high-level discussion organsied by the Sustainable Markets Initiative with Ortega Pittmann - Sustainable Markets Initiative, Dr Harvey Locke - Co-Founder Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Finance Project, Dr Thiago do Val Simardi Beraldo Souza at the IUCN, Patita Nkamunu - Founder Earthacre and Daniel O’Brien at PwC Canada. Key takeaways: 

• Communities cant be seen as simply ‘the end of a value chain’ or ‘beneficiaries’ but partners, stakeholders who have assets and valuable knowledge.   

• We need transformation of the whole economic system to deliver positive outcomes for nature positive future: 

• This will require business having a substantive change to their value creation, capture and delivery, where a nature positive aligned business model can be a financially viables business entity, alongside clear and robust policy frameworks that flow into national strategies.  

3. Enable better-informed and collaborative decision-making on the future of places – putting community and people at the centre 

As part of a collaboration with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute we explored the important role of universities. Discussions centred around how this partnership-led approach, linking cutting-edge conservation research to private sector engagement, can help further the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework. 

Fascinating insights from Melissa Leach, James Cole Chris Sandbrook, and Mariana Martinez del Rio de la Torre led to these key takeaways: 

• World-leading research is a critical component for decision-makers and can lead to successful policy interventions. 

• Universities can play a key role in convening change-makers across policy, finance, and business to support high-level goals of the GBF. 

• Partnerships are critical in using diverse and complementary strengths to find solutions to complex problems. 

• We need to break down barriers between those working on change at a global level and underrepresented voices at the local level. 

• A new form of collective leadership is needed to unlock systemic challenges and we need to build capacity to achieve this. 

Narrative event 1

4. Drive innovation in, and transformation of, critical sectors and supply chains 

We celebrated Innovation Day at COP16 at the Colombia Pavilion by hosting a panel event exploring the role innovation can play in meeting the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework. 

Speakers from the private sector, government, and start-up industry shared insights on why we need systems innovation, collaboration, clear policy and leadership to drive progress towards a nature positive future. Our event takeaways:  

• We need systems innovation to stand any chance of reaching GBF goals. 

• Collaboration is key - economic actors must work together to scale nature positive enterprises. 

• Examples of good practice are needed to show what’s possible & scalable to unlock growth. 

• A carrot and stick approach is needed: markets need to pull to incentivise businesses to help start-ups scale up and policy to move them out of the status quo. 

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Discover our Restoring Nature campaign and content hub 

Read our take on week one of the negotiations