The aim of EBNS 2021 was to scale up business action for nature ahead of the crucial United Nations Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 15 part 2) in the spring of 2022, and to strengthen the growing movement of companies across Europe and beyond that are putting nature and people at the centre of their recovery strategies.

European Green Deal Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans said:

“Whereas the climate crisis is treated with urgency, the biodiversity crisis and the threat of ecocide have not yet risen high enough on the global agenda. Businesses increasingly recognize the urgency to act, and I call on them to be vocal about the risks of biodiversity loss. Restoring our relationship with nature will stave off economic losses, generate new jobs, and ensure a habitable planet for future generations.”

Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius said:

“Businesses are a crucial lever in the system-wide change that needs to happen if we are to have a stable climate and a living planet where everyone can thrive. I count on them to drive the ambition for a Global Biodiversity Framework to be agreed at Biodiversity COP15, with ramped up biodiversity funding and sufficient mainstreaming of biodiversity in all sectors.”

The summit featured front-running businesses and financial institutions sharing experiences, best practice examples and initiatives that aim to integrate natural capital and biodiversity into corporate decision-making. It also encouraged businesses that have not yet engaged with natural capital and biodiversity to be inspired by their peers and begin taking action. Finally, the event invited new signatories to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge calling on global leaders to reverse nature loss within this decade and committing to protect and restore biodiversity through their finance activities and investments. These new signatories will boost the group of 75 financial institutions, representing €12 trillion in assets.

European Business Statement “Scaling up action for nature”

On 1 December 2021, at the outset of the European Business & Nature Summit 2021, the European Business Statement was officially delivered to the European Commission, in the presence of Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment and Laurent Burelle, Chairman of Afep (Association française des entreprises privées / French Association of Private Companies). The European Business Statement, developed by 13 business networks, calls on businesses and policy makers to mainstream biodiversity in all decisions and policies, and to scale up action, ambition and innovative collaboration on biodiversity.

More information is in this news item.

Read about the call that was shared to join the growing European "Business for Biodiversity movement".