Decisive, transformative action on biodiversity targets

MILAN OCTOBER 11 - European Business and Nature Summit is the largest conference dedicated to crafting sustainable business models. This year’s edition comes one year before COP16 and will put special focus on empowering businesses to take decisive transformative action to implement biodiversity targets and lead the way towards a nature-positive society.

At the summit, Jan Erik Saugestad, CEO Storebrand Asset Management, along with policymakers and representatives from the financial sector, will talk about how the adoption of the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is transforming business models in finance and beyond.

- The economic transformation required to protect biodiversity and safeguard the natural systems that our economies and financial systems depend on, cannot be left to the voluntary actions a few. It needs support from an enabling environment and mandatory disclosure.

- The current voluntary nature of disclosure creates an unlevel playing field between companies and an incomplete basis for us as investors to align financial flows in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). As investors we need data to guide our investment decisions, Saugestad continues.

The historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted in December 2022 has significantly raised the ambition of the international community and called on companies around the world to take urgent action.

- Hopefully this year's summit in Milan will take us one step in the right direction. Action is needed on all levels of business, politics and society. We recognize the contribution that finance has made to biodiversity loss but also the role it has to play in protecting it, he concludes.

The EBNS is a high-profile event funded by the European Commission, aimed at driving business transformations to make biodiversity part of their business models, financial strategies and daily operations.