Nature’s Return. Embedding environmental goals at the heart of financial decision-making

Nature’s Return. Embedding environmental goals at the heart of financial decision-making

03/06/2020 at 9:30 - 12:30
Location: Online
Organiser: Fianance Watch & the Club of Rome
Event type: Conference

3 June, 9:30 – 13:30 – Online

2020 was set to be a “super year” for nature and the planet. Then COVID-19 hit. The COP15 on Biodiversity, hosted by China, is postponed to 2021, as is the Climate COP26 hosted by the UK. Interestingly, the pandemic is also a stark boost to this agenda: it reminds us that we face permanent disaster if we do not act immediately to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystems.

On 20th May, the EU is expected to publish its Biodiversity Strategy 2030 – an important piece of the Green Deal – and promises to lead efforts at the global level.

The EU’s Green Deal Investment Plan is the most ambitious roadmap so far for integrating environmental objectives into private and public financial decision-making – including as part of the renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy and improved EU Semester dialogue between the Commission and Member States. The Plan has been criticized for a lack of fresh budgetary capacity. A Green Recovery package, putting nature at its heart, would solve that issue.

Join Finance Watch, The Club of Rome, policymakers and expert speakers for an online conference, following the publication by Finance Watch of its new report, Nature’s Return, to discuss some of the challenges of financing the restoration and protection of nature:

• Can the EU embed nature concerns in governance at a high level, similar to its existing policies on Energy Union and Climate Action?
• What are the limits and the potential for private finance in protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services?
• How should the post-COVID19 Recovery Package be shaped to prioritize investments which restore and protect biodiversity and ecosystems, reducing the risk of future pandemics?
• How can the EU semester effectively integrate biodiversity into economic and financial governance, as proposed by the Commission?
• What are the partnership options to reach our common goal – making finance serve nature – in the coming years?

Detailed programme will follow shortly.

(Source: Finance Watch)