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One of the contributions that ISEP Europe is making to the wider ISEP community is to actively engage with the European 'scene' and share the latest news from mainland Europe. At the European Business and Nature Summit (EBNS) in Helsinki in October, policy makers, business leaders, and finance experts came together to tackle biodiversity loss and explore practical steps toward a ‘Nature Positive by 2030’ future.
This two-day event focused on halting biodiversity loss and restoring natural systems. Held every two years, this continent-level summit acts as a bridge between the biennial COPs delivered by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). Following COP15 in Montréal in 2022, EBNS 2023 in Milan, and COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, Helsinki’s summit offered a clear view of how Europe is translating global biodiversity ambitions into regional action.
One of the contributions that ISEP Europe is making to the wider ISEP community is to actively engage with the European 'scene' and share the latest news from mainland Europe.
Since the ratification of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in Montréal, the nature agenda has shown a notable uptick. At COP15, Tony Juniper commented on the relative simplicity of the climate fight compared to halting biodiversity loss and restoring nature – about 74% of biodiversity has been lost since 1970; the remainder could be gone by 2050. Some of that complexity is now being addressed and EBNS 2023 saw policy makers, forward-leaning businesses and other stakeholders start to translate the GBF in a European context. By COP 16 the scale of interest had grown notably, with significantly more interest at ministerial level and by other stakeholders, including the finance sector. In Montréal, Mark Carney, the architect of GFANZ in Glasgow at COP26, gave a keynote on nature finance, in his role as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and financiers were a dominant presence by Cali.
Helsinki reflected this traction. Two EU commissioners and two director generals spoke, and major players from the world of finance were actively engaged. The summit, presented by former Finnish environment minister Emma Kari (pictured with Damien Plant FISEP), was considerably larger than two years earlier - despite it taking place in a wintry Helsinki rather than a balmy Milanese late summer!
The summit focused on three key themes led by the EU commission: business action, circularity and the bioeconomy, and biodiversity finance. This indicates a seriousness to engage with, and find opportunity in, the transition towards a nature-positive economy with the EU declaring its wish to be the leading continent on circularity and the bioeconomy.
Businesses were viewed as key stakeholders, leveraging circular solutions and bioeconomic innovation to drive tangible impact. Finance, too, was increasingly framed as a business opportunity rather than a cost burden.
However, challenges remain, and we will wait to see how positive intentions translate into positive action. The indications are that Europe recognises an opportunity for early advantage and differentiation, alongside the environmental and social imperatives of reversing nature loss.
The UNCBD remains the poor relation to climate’s UNFCCC and far fewer actors in the climate space appear to know of its existence. Often the two agendas overlap and at times, contradict. And aligning funding is a challenge. COP30 aims to enhance ‘interconnectedness’ – a buzzword at EBNS. The GBF (nature's equivalent of the Paris agreement at COP21) should at least help to accelerate progress, but natural systems are inherently complex and so this journey is more likely the end of the beginning, than the beginning of the end!
Footnote: Looking forward, COP17 is scheduled for Yerevan, Armenia in late 2026, with EBNS returning in 2027 at a yet-to-be-announced location.
