Another 18 financial institutions have signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge bringing the total number of signatories to 55.
Banks, asset managers, insurers and impact funds have collectively pledged to commit to collaborating, engaging, assessing their own biodiversity impact, setting targets and reporting on biodiversity by 2024 at the latest.
Amundi, Aviva, Jupiter, First Sentier Investors, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Storebrand AM and Sycomore AM are among the new groups to sign up. The total assets under management represented by the signatories now amounts to €9trn spread across 15 countries.
This will be the third round of signatories to the Pledge, following the launch that featured 26 founding signatories in September 2020 and a second round of 11 signatories in December.
Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva Group, said: “All of us depend on the natural world. Healthier ecosystems mean healthier people, stronger communities and a more robust economy. The world urgently needs to protect its precious and increasingly threatened biodiversity and, as the UK’s leading insurer, Aviva has a responsibility to use our influence to help do just that. We are proud to sign up to the Finance for Biodiversity pledge, joining with others to act together for a better tomorrow.”
Jean-Jacques Barberis, executive committee member, head of institutional clients coverage & ESG, added: “Biodiversity provides significant economic and social value to our world including and is threated by human activities. While data is limited and best practices are still emerging, the investor community needs to act now to ensure healthier ecosystems now and for future generations. As for climate change, the immensity of the challenge shall make us modest: Amundi is committed to play its role within the financial community.”
