The IPBES assessment of the impact and dependence of business on nature aims to strengthen the knowledge base to support efforts by business to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity–living in harmony with nature–and the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In a collaborative effort involving experts from various knowledge systems, scientific disciplines and business sectors, it categorizes the dependencies and impacts of business and financial institutions on nature; assesses methods for measuring such dependencies and impacts; and assesses options for actions by businesses and other societal actors that interact with them. This session welcomes the assessment’s team to give an overview of its content, key messages and knowledge gaps. Abstracts should cover topics from chapters 1-6 and their cross-cutting issues related (but not resumed) to: 1. presenting the assessment’s framework and laying out the context for understanding how businesses interact with nature; 2. how businesses depend on biodiversity–typology of dependencies; synergies and trade-offs; 3. how businesses impact biodiversity–business impact types and pathways; synergies and trade-offs; 4. approaches for measurement, including frameworks, metrics, indicators, models, data, and tools; 5. options for action by businesses to contribute to transformative change and sustainable development by using measures of impact and dependence; 6. options for action by Governments, the financial sector, Indigenous People and local communities and civil society to create an enabling environment for business to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity. The session concludes by identifying opportunities for actors to contribute to bending the curve of biodiversity loss through a whole-of-society approach

In this session we aim to explore the relationship between biodiversity loss and the high sovereign debt burdens faced by many countries in the Global South, much of which are rooted in colonial-era economic structures. With high debt service costs, many governments are left with shrinking fiscal space to invest in conservation. At the same time, the need to earn foreign currency to service debt (much of it denominated in U.S. dollars) can drive countries to expand in environmentally harmful industries such as mining, industrial agriculture, and fossil fuel production for export.

The growing material risks of nature loss are also affecting sovereign credit ratings, which reduces investor confidence and thereby increases borrowing costs. Despite this, much of climate and biodiversity finance channeled to the Global South continues to be delivered in the form of loans, which risks exacerbating debt crises. In this way, growing sovereign debt burdens and biodiversity loss risks creating a vicious cycle.

In this session we bring a macro-financial lens to the biodiversity finance conversation, exploring how debt and fiscal vulnerability affects the extent to which biodiversity loss in the Global South can be addressed in alignment with wider social justice objectives.

We invite discussion on questions such as:
- How can debt justice considerations be integrated in biodiversity finance commitments?
- How can sovereign debt relief mechanisms be designed to expand fiscal space for conservation without reinforcing new forms of dependency?
- What role can credit rating agencies, development banks, and international financial institutions play in aligning debt sustainability with biodiversity protection?

This session explores biodiversity finance as a critical yet underrepresented lens for embedding ecological considerations into economic and financial systems. Biodiversity loss poses profound physical, transition, and systemic risks to financial markets. As fiduciaries of global capital, financial institutions (FIs) exert a substantial influence on biodiversity outcomes through their investment, lending, insurance, and procurement decisions.
The session will examine the intersection of biodiversity with financial markets, business models, and insurance practices, and what this implies for investment strategies and long-term value creation. It will explore the role of nature credits and similar instruments in shaping biodiversity-positive markets, while critically assessing their credibility and ethical implications. Attention will also be given to policy and governance mechanisms, such as regulation, disclosure, and risk assessment, that support the integration of biodiversity into financial decision-making. A further focus lies on how FIs can operationalise biodiversity-related risks, dependencies, and opportunities, and how new partnerships, frameworks, and innovations may help align capital flows with ecological goals.
By bringing together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, the session aims to bridge disciplinary and sectoral silos, deepen understanding of biodiversity finance, and surface tensions between financial logics and ecological realities.
The objective of this session is to initiate a discussion on the establishment of biodiversity finance as a transformative mechanism for redirecting financial flows towards ecologically viable and ethically sound futures.

With ongoing biodiversity loss, businesses, authorities, and society are expected to account for their biodiversity impact. Under environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, larger companies must disclose their biodiversity footprint. Although the European Sustainability Reporting Standard ESRS E4 took effect in 2024, a standardised approach is still lacking. Guidelines and metrics are being developed by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TFND), the Science Based Target Network (SBTN) or the Nature Positive Initiative (NPI). However, assessment metrics vary highly and none reflects the inherent complexity of biodiversity. For companies, a uniform, numerical footprint index that could be included in financial statements – possibly with a price tag – would be desirable. Such an approach requires standardisation, calibration, suitability across geographic locations, sufficient spatiotemporal resolution and data quality – all of which is not yet given.
Biodiversity footprints offer immense potential for companies to assess their direct and indirect biodiversity impacts, to identify high-risk areas in value chains, and to establish mitigation measures, ultimately resulting in an asset that can be increased or even be traded.
This session presents current developments in corporate biodiversity reporting and invites contributions on:
- biodiversity metrics or assessment tools for companies
- challenges and opportunities in developing and implementing biodiversity footprints
- links to frameworks such as ESG, ESRS E4, TFND, and SBTN
- case studies on corporate biodiversity footprint reporting
We plan to connect scientific knowledge and corporate perspectives, welcoming contributions from both biodiversity researchers and business professionals.

Objectives: This session explores socio-biodiversity as a lens for integrating environmental, social, and financial considerations in biodiversity management. It will examine links between biological and cultural diversity and economic systems; highlight Indigenous Peoples and local communities as knowledge holders; discuss policies, governance, and finance strategies shaped by socio-biodiversity; and foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, investors, and policymakers to build credible biodiversity markets and ethical approaches to biodiversity finance.
Background: Biodiversity underpins environmental, social, and economic well-being and is increasingly central to business and finance. Effective decisions require moving beyond narrow valuation to integrate ecological, cultural, and social values, recognizing the complexity of socio-ecological systems. Businesses both depend on and impact biodiversity, while facing risks from its decline, making systemic approaches essential. Yet business practice often falls short, emphasizing positive contributions while ignoring negative impacts and wider social consequences. Addressing these gaps demands integration of nature, humans, and capital, and partnerships that support mutual learning and capacity building.
Session Structure:
1. Opening Keynote (10 min)
2. Presentations (45 min)
3. Interactive Discussion (30 min)
4. Closing Remarks (5 min)
Contribution: This session will bridge ecological, social, and financial dimensions, foster inclusive and interdisciplinary partnerships, and identify actionable strategies for businesses and investors to halt biodiversity loss while improving risk management.

In light of declining biodiversity and the growing recognition of its ecological, social, and economic importance, there is an urgent need to more effectively integrate biodiversity considerations into financial decision-making. Capital markets play a central role in directing financial flows across the economy. However, the understanding of how capital market actors perceive, manage, and disclose biodiversity-related impacts and dependencies remains limited.

This session explores how different financial actors engage with biodiversity in investment analysis, stewardship practices, and risk and regulatory frameworks. It aims to assess current approaches and identify opportunities for enhancing the role of capital markets in supporting biodiversity restoration and conservation.

We welcome both empirical and theoretical contributions. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

- Definitions and perceptions of biodiversity risk among capital market actors
- Pricing of biodiversity-related risks and opportunities in financial markets
- Integration of biodiversity considerations into institutional investment strategies
- Approaches to biodiversity risk management by insurers and banks
- Active ownership and stewardship strategies linked to biodiversity
- Use of biodiversity indices and benchmarks in portfolio construction and evaluation
- Comparison of biodiversity and climate considerations in investor decision-making
- Market-based incentives and disincentives for biodiversity-aligned finance
- Assessment of current incentive structures and their sufficiency in fostering biodiversity-positive investing
- Role of financial policymakers, regulators, and central banks in shaping biodiversity finance
- Market failures and corrective policy instruments

Biodiversity loss is posing an existential threat to humanity. Averting the loss to improve biodiversity outcomes is deeply embedded in economic activities, and there is an urgent need to bridge the biodiversity finance gap, estimated at $700 billion annually. This need far exceeds public funding capacity, making private investment essential through different financial instruments (blended finance, nature credits, and debt-for-nature swaps). The physical risks of biodiversity loss become increasingly material (i.e., financial risk) for business and the economy, and pricing this risk is emerging in financial sectors such as insurance sector.
The effectiveness of these tools and instruments depends on robust, comparable, and scalable biodiversity metrics and standardized frameworks that are transparent, credible, and accountable to develop confidence in biodiversity market and financial sector.
Drawing on theoretical and empirical examples from diverse contexts, the session aims to foster cross-sector learning on what works, and what does not in developing biodiversity markets, and generating private finance to bridge the funding gaps.

We welcome contributions that focus on biodiversity finance and economics to address biodiversity measurement, market, and finance related topics in general. The specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
· How biodiversity metrics can be standardized for mainstream investment?
· Lessons from insurance in pricing biodiversity-related risks.
· Designing financial tools/instruments and their effectiveness and scalability to mobilize private finance while reducing corporate impacts.
· Lessons from biodiversity markets – key market determinants (demand- and supply-side factors), and policy innovations
· Integrating indigenous and local knowledge in biodiversity financing and financial products

Biodiversity and ecosystem services underpin the world economy, yet their ongoing degradation now threatens the socioeconomic activities that rely on them (‘physical risks’). Nature protection policies, though essential for long-term stability, could temporarily disrupt production and prices, especially if implemented in a disorderly way (‘transition risks’). Progress has been made in mapping business, government, and financial impacts and dependencies on nature, offering a high-level indication of potential exposure to these biodiversity-related economic risks.
Yet, how risk exposures at the firm level can cascade towards systemic macroeconomic and financial (‘macrofinancial’) risks remains poorly understood. Key channels include ecological feedback loops such as tipping points, cascades through global supply chains, compounding interactions between physical and transition risks, and amplification via existing macroeconomic and financial fragilities like currency risk and indebtedness. Excluding these macro-financial dynamics from biodiversity risk scenarios may result in underestimated impacts, leaving economic policymakers such as central banks and ministries of finance with major blind spots affecting risk management and nature transition planning.
Targeted at academics and policymakers, this session will present cutting-edge research on the macrofinancial risks of biodiversity loss and transition policies. In scope are policy-relevant empirical contributions focusing on the feedback effects between ecological, economic, and/or financial dynamics. Led by UCL IIPP, this session welcomes both quantitative and qualitative approaches, with a special focus on showcasing diverse approaches to macroeconomic modelling. We especially welcome contributions from policymakers.

Spatial prioritisation sits the at the heart of conservation planning as it determines how effectively space is utilised and allocated resources. The post-2020 CBD targets spurred not only the consolidation of global biodiversity datasets (e.g GBIF) but also the creation of tools for modelling, mapping and visualising biological processes. Interactive maps have become a go-to medium for conveying scientific information and bridging the knowledge-practise barrier. Digital maps, with their intuitive dashboards are increasingly used for quantifying nature-related risks (e.g ABC-map, TNFD), and predicting the impact of future developments (COLA, Jants et al. 2024).
The broad suite of tools that are available signals an encouraging trend of demand among practitioners in both the public and private sector. It is imperative ,however, that these digital maps are underpinned by tested biodiversity models, with bounds of use that are understood and communicated clearly. Modelling biodiversity is a active and rapidly developing field of science, and will be elevated by including practitioners in the design process of these visualisation platforms to ensure model outputs meet the specific needs of practitioners and regulators.
Therefore, at the World Biodiversity Forum 2026, we are proposing a session called ‘Mapping Life’ with the explicit objective of convening both developers and users of biodiversity maps. The session will, by design, reach across disciplinary divides and offer an opportunity for practitioners and scientists to develop a shared understanding and vocabulary around the subject.

For examples of biodiversity mapping tools, see:
https://www.ibat-alliance.org
https://abc-map.fao.org

Many countries have committed to addressing two global challenges - the transition to a carbon-neutral energy production and the halt and reversal of biodiversity loss. Consequently, much research has been devoted at the interface of these topics, such as the consequences of renewable energy infrastructure and operation on biodiversity and ecosystem functions, solutions to minimize or mitigate negative impacts, and the underlying drivers of public opinion about renewable energy generation and biodiversity stewardship.
The goal of this session is to review the current state of knowledge at the interface of biodiversity and renewable energies, to identify persisting knowledge gaps, and to spark discussions about pathways towards a biodiversity-friendly energy transition. We welcome contributions covering any of the renewable energy sources, namely solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, biogas, tidal- and wave energy, geothermal energy and biofuels and from all levels of biodiversity consequences, e.g., food webs, ecosystems, habitats, and ecosystem services. We further appreciate contributions on societal aspects of biodiversity stewardship and the energy transition.

Achieving global biodiversity conservation targets requires massive spatial and temporal in-situ biodiversity data, which is still limited by the high cost and heavy workload of traditional sampling. In the past decade, environmental DNA (eDNA) has been widely used and become a standard method for aquatic biodiversity sampling. With high efficiency in data collection and processing, eDNA technology will be particularly helpful for biodiversity sampling in understudied areas, with the potential to promote the implementation of findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) sampling strategies. By compiling global eDNA databases following consistent protocols, scientists can analyze how the distribution of aquatic biodiversity at various levels (taxonomic, functional, genetic diversity) are attributable to drainage characteristics, climate and human impacts, and assess the spatial scale and magnitude of the land-water linkage of biodiversity across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, by combining with existing traditional biodiversity databases, the use of eDNA is expected to make an important contribution to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

In this session, we will bring together scientists and engineers that work on or are interested in eDNA technology and its potential applications in regional to global biodiversity sampling. We will explore how to leverage the growing wealth of eDNA database resources to advance biodiversity research on a broader scale and provide reference information for effective decision-making.

Businesses across sectors are increasingly striving to meet voluntary or statutory environmental reporting and disclosure requirements for biodiversity. Yet many companies and financial institutions struggle to obtain the biodiversity data they need to define, plan, monitor and report on their environmental impacts, dependencies, risks, and nature-positive outcomes. In addition, while the financial risks of climate change are increasingly scrutinized, the economic implications of nature degradation—such as biodiversity loss, water scarcity, soil degradation and marine pollution—remain poorly understood.

This workshop therefore
- explores the channels through which corporate dependencies and impacts on nature transmit from the real economy side (e.g., production) into financial markets through company valuations and asset prices.
- identifies key challenges and solutions for improving the availability of biodiversity data for business sustainability more broadly.

The workshop will bring together researchers from financial economics, sustainability science, business management, and conservation biology to identify challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from current research and business initiatives.

Participants will present theoretical models and empirical evidence that map the pathways from nature degradation to economic outcomes, focusing on two primary channels: the disruption of ecosystem services vital for production, and the transition risks arising from new environmental regulations, disclosure requirements (e.g., Corporate Sustainability Requirement Directive in Europe, Sustainability Disclosure Standards in the UK), and rising legal challenges on the destruction of nature.
They will also present case studies on the latest biodiversity metrics research and practical examples of biodiversity needs and uses relating to biodiversity credits, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining, marine services, and sport.

We will address key questions such as:
- What biodiversity data do businesses need for assessing their impacts and dependencies and monitoring success of nature-positive initiatives?
- How do markets value a company’s reliance on specific ecosystem services like pollination or water filtration? Are there examples of financial losses due to companies’ dependence on degraded ecosystems and that can be observed at the scale of global financial markets?
- Are firms with significant negative impacts on biodiversity facing a higher cost of capital?
This workshop aims to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on creating robust, actionable frameworks for corporates, investors, and policymakers.

Co-conveners: Fanny Cartellier, Kerrigan Unter, Elsa Almeida

Biodiversity loss poses material risks for economies and financial systems, yet private capital toward biodiversity-positive outcomes remains limited. Blended finance and impact investing are increasingly recognized as mechanisms to bridge this gap, but barriers such as unclear risk-return profiles, lack of standardized measurement, and misconceptions about investability persist. This session will explore how these instruments can be scaled up by pension funds and asset managers, grounded in real-world cases.

We begin with success stories from agriculture and forestry finance, such as the FMO Fund & Green and the Tropical Forest Finance Facility (TFFF), which combine public and philanthropic guarantees with institutional investors to finance projects beyond conservation, supporting sustainable supply chains and local initiatives. These examples illustrate opportunities as well as barriers, from governance and monitoring challenges to aligning fiduciary duty with biodiversity-positive strategies. The session aims to identify solutions to such barriers while enabling networking to form a solution-oriented group capable of piloting cases.

We then turn to how asset managers can integrate these mechanisms into pension portfolios, outlining steps from pilot formats to institutional-grade products. A side focus will explore how financial tools can ensure a just process based on stewardship and collaboration across networks of actors affected by and benefiting from biodiversity.

This track will foster dialogue across private markets, NGOs, financial actors, and academics, building on initiatives such as the Financing Biodiversity Project in the Netherlands.

Goal of the workshop:
Over the course of one day, we want to continue shaping our vision of a biodiversity academy aimed at leaders in industry and the financial sector. We want to explore what high-impact biodiversity leadership looks like in practice and how an academy could enable leaders and their organisations identify and manage their biodiversity-related risks and opportunities by creating the necessary mindset, capabilities and behaviours.

Expected outcomes:
1) Participants will co-create a leadership toolkit focused on positive storytelling and biodiversity impact, and reflect on how they might inspire and lead nature-positive change within their own contexts. We will seek to empower attendees to take further steps toward integrating biodiversity leadership into organizational cultures, and foster a peer support network to sustain momentum.
2) For the University of Zurich, we will look to test our emerging thinking on a skeleton for a biodiversity academy aimed at enabling leaders in the private sector. To achieve this objective, we will carefully consider the audience of the workshop and will potentially use it as a first high-profile opportunity to bring together a first cohort of the leaders we are looking to move along on the journey

Date: 14 June 2026, Sunday

Duration: 4 x 90-minute sessions (morning and afternoon), followed by an informal networking dinner

Biodiversity loss poses profound ecological and governance challenges. Firms depend on ecosystem services such as water, pollination, and soil health, yet these dependencies are often unpriced and under-governed. This 90-minute workshop examines how firms can govern nature to mitigate biodiversity risks and generate strategic and financial value, combining short keynotes with a moderated panel and interactive Q&A.

Walls: Business–nature dependencies, impacts, and risk measurement.
Stroehle: How governance structures and boards integrate biodiversity into firm strategy.
Nerlinger: Valuing biodiversity through financial transmission channels and reporting frameworks.
Sirén: Strategic innovation and nature-positive opportunities for firms.
Teerikangas (moderator): Panel discussion with the keynote speakers on actionable governance mechanisms.

Goals
Demonstrate how biodiversity risks and dependencies can be translated into business-relevant metrics.
Provide governance, finance, and innovation perspectives for embedding biodiversity into corporate decision-making.
Bridge theory and practice by identifying actionable mechanisms for firms, investors, and regulators.

Expected Outcomes
Participants will gain an integrated understanding of how biodiversity can be governed at the firm level to manage risk, drive innovation, and create long-term value while preserving and regenerating nature. The workshop will provide practical insights for executives, boards, and policymakers seeking credible and ethical governance solutions for biodiversity.

Duration: 90 minutes
Goals:
This session aims to highlight the financial materiality of biodiversity risks and provide actionable insights into integrating biodiversity considerations into financial decision-making. By bringing together Finance for Biodiversity, RepRisk, and Robeco, we will explore unique perspectives and tools that assess and mitigate biodiversity risks.

Summary:
The session will begin with a 10-minute introduction outlining the objectives and the significance of addressing biodiversity as a financial risk. Key speakers from each organization will be introduced. The main segment consists of three 15-minute presentations. Finance for Biodiversity will discuss mainstreaming companies and performance selection, emphasizing the challenges faced by their members. RepRisk will showcase their approach to assessing biodiversity risks and how their data supports risk identification and mitigation. Robeco will present their strategies for integrating biodiversity considerations into investment decisions.
Following the presentations, a 25-minute interactive discussion will allow participants to ask questions, share insights, and engage with the presenters. Topics will include practical applications of tools, challenges in assessing biodiversity risks, and integrating new research insights. The session will conclude with a 10-minute summary of key takeaways and actionable steps, followed by a Q&A session.

Expected Outcomes:
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the need to include the financial sector in the quest to address biodiversity loss. The workshop will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and provide a platform for dialogue and knowledge sharing.

For as long as nature is held in the charity bucket, it struggles to assert its needs. However, life on Earth depends indisputably on nature to flourish. So, what can we do?
In this workshop, we use the Interspecies Money (IM) concept developed by Jonathan Ledgard and his group as an entry point to discuss how such concepts can give nature economic agency to assert its needs. We will explore how AI, blockchain, digital payment and identification mechanisms, combined with ecological knowledge and data, can enable monetary microtransactions across species to support long-term coexistence.
Using learnings from the 2024-25 groundbreaking IM pilot in Rwanda, centred around the Kwitonda group of mountain gorillas, we will then explore how concepts like IM can be expanded to other species and geographical areas. The last part of the workshop discusses the intersectoral and interdisciplinary connections needed to realise and scale such frameworks with the aim seed new pilots in other regions as an outcome of this workshop
Guided by experts in banking, digital infrastructure, ecology and AI, this workshop aims to engineer intersectoral discussions on neutral ground. To counteract preconceived biases, participants' affiliations will not be revealed until the workshop ends. Participants should walk away with concrete understanding of their potential role in revolutionising nature conservation financing towards a more agile, impactful and stakeholder-driven approach.
To engage with a wider audience, we propose a podcast mini-series, e.g. in SwissRe's Risk REconsidered, discussing opportunities and risks associated with radically changing the way species protection is financially supported.

Duration 3 x 90 minutes

We're proposing a workshop, but are flexible with the formatting based on programming. It could also serve as a panel/plenary session.

Duration: 60 minutes
Description: To bend the curve of biodiversity loss, collective accountability and effective action across sectors require a shared understanding of nature’s current state and trends. This session will examine progress toward a consensus on universal state-of-nature metrics - spanning terrestrial, freshwater, and marine realms - grounded in science yet designed to guide decision-making to achieve nature positive outcomes. Building on the Nature Positive Initiative’s work to align on universal indicators, including technical guidance, 2025 pilot program results, and crosswalks with standards, we will present emerging insights on how core metrics are converging across voluntary and regulatory initiatives through short talks and an interactive panel in partnership with TNFD, SBTN, GRI, and private sector contributors exploring: universal indicators and metrics representing the state of nature; what constitutes a scientifically credible and actionable nature-positive claim; how these metrics inform standard-setting, target tracking, disclosure, reporting, and financing; workshopping lessons from early piloting

Goals: Build a shared understanding of consensus on universal state-of-nature metrics; Showcase how metrics can be applied across sectors for reporting and decision-making; Identify pathways to mass adoption and alignment in the private sector

Outcomes: Shared understanding of current consensus on state of nature metrics; Practical insights on application across use cases; Clear opportunities for further alignment, implementation, and evolution; Opportunities for discussion on moving from disclosure to action

How can investors link capital to real biodiversity gains? This workshop defines investable evidence and shows how transparent measurement and data infrastructure make it bankable. We compare regulated compensation systems such as Germany’s eco-points (Ökopunkte/Ökokonto) with other emerging nature credits systems to clarify use cases, incentives, and risks. We then explore how continuous digital monitoring—satellites, drones, field sensors, bioacoustics, eDNA—and disciplined data management turn site-level observations into reproducible indicators, baselines, and performance triggers for contracts and portfolios. Short demos will illustrate (i) provenance-rich nature data management and QA/QC with Svarmi’s DATACT, (ii) high-integrity sensor networks from adjacent environmental markets as a blueprint for robust MRV, and (iii) market enablement via new entrepreneurial players in the nature credits market.
Outcome: a practical checklist investors and project developers can use to assess transparency, traceability, and long-term stewardship in nature deals.