The financial system today is funding the destruction of the natural world. To date, the changes recommended to address the problem have been too narrowly focused on disclosure, too incremental, and too slow. Much bolder, systemic change is needed.
Financial institutions and regulators that choose to lead will need a reference guide, including a comprehensive diagnosis and set of more ambitious prescriptions.
The report is made up of six, core elements. These elements, individually and taken together seek to:
- Introduce absent, and/or improve on existing, weak feedback signals that significantly increase the materiality of biodiversity in private and public financial decision-making.
- Make financing that results in net biodiversity loss less attractive, and financing that results in no net loss or net positive biodiversity outcomes more attractive.
- Advance and align the narrower ‘financial risk’ lens of traditional, private financial intermediaries, and the broader ‘impact’ lens that concerns policy and a growing community of private financing actors.
Each element can be advanced individually and make a significant difference. Taken together, however, they would take us a long way forward in aligning global finance with nature’s needs