While the world’s attention has rightly been focused on the climate change crisis, there is an increasing awareness that a second, linked crisis, that of accelerating biodiversity loss, has huge significance for society and the future of the human race. Biodiversity loss is among the top global risks to society.

The planet is now facing its sixth mass extinction, with consequences that will affect all life on Earth.  Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. The BBC recently reported that, since 1970, there has been on average almost a 70% decline in the populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. It is thought that one million animal and plant species - almost a quarter of the global total - are threatened with extinction. This contrasts with a biodiversity retention rate of 90% that is considered as being the "safe limit" to prevent the world from tipping into an "ecological meltdown", according to researchers.

Biodiversity loss is now a critical business risk for both financial institutions and corporates. Spurred on by the recommendations of COP15, governments, policymakers and financial regulators are focused on how to align financial flows with the preservation of biodiversity and how to enforce this through ESG regulatory frameworks that currently mainly target climate change.

City & Financial’s timely summit, ‘The Biodiversity and Nature Markets Summit 2023: A Practical Guide for Corporates and Financial Institutions’, will analyse the key issues involved in the round and provide practical guidance on the steps that organisations should be taking now.