The European Business and Nature Summit is gathering more than 1000 delegates representing business, finance, government, research and civil society on 8 and 9 December online to discuss how businesses depend on nature and their role in tackling the biodiversity crisis.

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, this virtual event is convened by the EU Business@Biodiversity Platform of the European Commission in cooperation with the Belgian federal and Flemish government, The Shift, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Against the background of the EU Recovery Plan and the  EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 the public online conference will discuss how biodiversity and natural capital can be better integrated into business decision-making.

The summit will showcase forward-looking business strategies and concrete actions to integrate nature in corporate decisions, thereby creating new opportunities for efficiency, resilience and innovation, and delivering value for nature and people alongside businesses.

The summit will also bring forward financial players that have made commitments to lower their nature-related risk profile, redirect investments or change their service offer. During the opening session on 9 December, 11 new financial institutions signatories to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge will be celebrated, bringing to 37 this group of banks, insurers, asset managers and investors with almost €4.8 trillion assets under management. Tother they emphasize the need to protect biodiversity and calls upon world leaders to agree on reversing nature loss in this decade.

With leading corporates and financial players already “on the move” realising that a substantial part of our economy depends on natural capital, the Summit shall inspire more actions from businesses and identify practical solutions. 

The European Business and Nature Summit shall strengthen the growing movement of companies across Europe and beyond that are putting nature and people at the centre of their recovery strategies.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries: “Over half of the world’s economy depends on nature, and yet, for too long, we have removed nature from the business equation. With the European Green Deal, it’s time for a different approach – to better measure the business impacts and dependencies on nature and bring the concern for nature in company boardrooms. Today’s conference will help us grasp the scale of the efforts needed and further intensify our actions for the establishment of an international natural capital accounting initiative.”

Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union: “Nature is capital and sustainability may become the strongest currency of the future. Investing in our ecosystem is the only way forward for a healthy and competitive business environment. The corporate world and the financial sector have an instrumental role to play in reversing the unprecedented implications of the current biodiversity crisis. Decisive and collective action is key.”

Markus Mueller, Global Head of Chief Investment Office, Deutsche Bank - International Private Bank (IPB): “The truth is that we can’t separate economy, society and politics here. As a society, we all have an interest in getting our economies to function well – and this means that we should protect the functioning of our natural resources. To feel responsible for these kinds of issues is quite rational – it is not going against economic common sense.”   

Saker Nusseibeh, CEO of International business of Federated Hermes

“All life on Earth depends on well-functioning ecosystems, so it is our collective responsibility to contribute to the protection and restoration of nature. We are committed to playing our part through deepening and accelerating the focus on biodiversity in our stewardship and investment activities.”

Press contact: Hannah Bellfield

Matthias Seewald, CIO Allianz France

“As biodiversity declines at alarming rates worldwide, we as investors have the responsibility to uphold investee companies and governments to the highest possible standards to slow down the loss of species, deterioration of protected areas and ecosystems. To make this possible, cooperation between different stakeholders is needed and serious commitments to develop assessment methods on pressures and vulnerabilities of natural resources remain key areas of attention.”

Press contact

Yann Verstraeten of the EU B@B Platform : Yann.Verstraeten@icf.com

+32 476 98 20 51

Cecile Bonino

Head of EU Affairs

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