Aviva and WWF have come together to create seven milestones that need to be overcome to mobilise the private finance needed to protect and restore nature.
Together the finance group and NGO have published the report, to coincide with COP15 this week, titled Unlocking finance for nature, which draws on lessons from climate action to outline a route to scale capital in similar way but directed specifically towards biodiversity solutions.
See also: – WWF: ‘Transition plans need to be credible’
In particular, the coalition cited the successful efforts to align financial institutions with net zero since the Paris Agreement – a strong policy architecture with binding global and national goals, measurable targets and global and national scenarios – and called for a similar pathway for nature financing.
As with the investor group, they noted the confidence this would build among investors and the finance industry about the direction of travel and how it would “catalyse economic policy to incentivise private finance”.
The seven-point pathway, as Aviva and WWF stated, is below:
• A globally agreed nature positive goal at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15
• Measurable, legally binding, national nature goals aligned with the GBF
• Globally agreed scenarios and sectoral pathways for key economic sectors, to achieve the Paris Agreement and the GBF
• Full alignment of multilateral and development finance with the goals of the Paris Agreement and GBF
• Clear targets, metrics and standards that are actionable and monitorable at company level
• Development of national sectoral pathways and scenarios to achieve national goals on climate and nature
• Credible national biodiversity strategies and action plans to reach measurable, legally binding national level nature goals consistent with the GBF.
See also: – All ESG Clarity‘s COP15 coverage
Karen Ellis, WWF’s chief economist, said: “At the moment a lot of global finance is bankrolling the destruction of nature. Our seven-point pathway seeks to align private finance with the new global goal we expect the CBD conference to announce in Montreal.
“Private finance can be unlocked to protect and restore nature, but the private sector cannot do this alone. A whole of government approach is needed, where policy, regulation and public spending create the right incentives, and consider climate and nature together. That starts with clear targets and economic policies that give clarity to the finance sector.”
Paddy Arber, Aviva’s group head of government engagement – sustainability, said: “We need the equivalent of a Paris Agreement for nature – and global and national policy and regulatory frameworks to deliver it. Like the Paris Agreement, the one reached in Montreal must include measures on aligning financial flows with the goals of the agreement. Only then can domestic policy be shifted and private finance begin to align at scale.”
