{"id":64208,"date":"2023-01-27T13:35:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T13:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=news&p=64208"},"modified":"2024-08-16T10:27:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T09:27:02","slug":"cop15-marked-a-decisive-moment-for-central-banks-and-supervisors-to-address-nature-risks-in-the-anthropocene","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/cop15-marked-a-decisive-moment-for-central-banks-and-supervisors-to-address-nature-risks-in-the-anthropocene\/","title":{"rendered":"COP15 marked a decisive moment for central banks and supervisors to address nature risks in the Anthropocene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Elena Almeida and Simon Dikau consider how the new Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at COP15 helps to crystallise financial sector action on biodiversity – and where work still needs to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, nature is declining at rates that are unprecedented in human history, with animal populations shrinking by almost 70% in the last 50 years<\/path><\/svg><\/a>, and a further one million animal and plant species<\/path><\/svg><\/a> at risk of extinction. Most of this decline is driven by human activity, resulting in the acknowledgement by many scientists that the Earth has entered a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene, in which changes to Earth’s climate and ecosystems are predominantly caused by human activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is global recognition of the need to transform society’s relationship with nature. The 15th UN Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in December 2022 brought together 188 governments from around the world to negotiate an agreement to halt nature loss. It resulted in the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework<\/path><\/svg><\/a>, which comprises 23 targets to protect nature by 2030 and four long-term goals for 2050. It also places a strong emphasis on protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business and finance representatives, as well as central banks and financial supervisors, have long been active at the climate-equivalent COPs, including COP27 in Egypt in November 2022, but up until COP15 they had been less prominent at the biodiversity COPs. Their noticeable engagement in Montreal was encouraging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relevance of the Global Biodiversity Framework targets for the financial sector<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Global Biodiversity Framework formalises material targets and therefore implicitly establishes the related risks. Of the 23 targets, six are particularly relevant for the financial sector:<\/p>\n\n\n\n