Banking on Nature

The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) published a report following the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15 in 2022.

This Framework should be for Nature what the Paris Agreements are for Climate: a milestone global consensus to call on banks to address nature-related issues. UNEP FI thus provides guidelines for them to carry out reforms as quickly as possible:

• Shape governance at executive/board level and develop internal skill to manage nature and biodiversity issues.
• Assess and understand the bank's exposure to nature-related risks and dependencies.
• Develop dedicated policies on biodiversity to prevent excess loss, especially in high-risk sectors such as those exposed to deforestation.
• Set actionable targets on nature and align with peers to maximise efficiency.
• Share targets, roadmaps and learnings with other financial institutions to benefit from the ecosystem's continuous improvement.
• Involve all relevant stakeholders in the transition plans to make sure all strategies are aligned along the bank's value chain.

Banks do not have to wait for regulatory developments end of 2024 to take account of nature-related risks. The Framework gives the responsible ones the opportunity to take immediate and ambitious action. Industry-wide engagement involving major financial institutions, civil society and supranational organisations is key to allow for these reforms to take shape by 2030.