https://www.financeforbiodiversity.org/news-events/events/finance-for-bi...
The seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) will be a key moment for tracking progress and assessing the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). COP17 will hold the first Global Review of Collective Progress against the GBF, including on its Resource Mobilisation Strategy. It will also operationalise the UN Cali Fund.
Attended by +20,000 delegates from 196 countries, COP17 will bring together governments, observer organisations, indigenous communities, businesses, youth groups, civil society, academia, and the general public.
Mobilising the finance sector at COP17 is essential to drive stronger implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. With our continuous engagement with the CBD, we encourage Parties to raise ambition, while fostering the enabling environment needed to align financial flows with global biodiversity goals.
Key areas of engagement:
- Official role at COP17: The FfB Foundation is an accredited observer to the CBD and a lead partner on finance sector mobilisation at COP17.
- Finance Day Leadership: We are part of the Finance Day Steering Group for the third consecutive COP, helping shape the agenda and drive impactful participation.
- UN Cali Fund Steering Committee: As an observer to the UN Cali Fund Steering Committee for civil society, we will be directly involved in the negotiations.
- Global Biodiversity Framework Review: With our Public Policy Advocacy working group, we contribute in processes related to the GBF review, including its Resource Mobilisation Strategy.
- High-Level Engagement: We aim to organise our recurring event for Finance CEOs and Ministers (as we did at COP15 and COP 16).
- Previous Roles: FfB was a member of the former UN CBD Advisory Committee on Resource Mobilisation at COP16.
In September 2020, a group of 26* pioneering financial institutions launched the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, calling for urgent action on biodiversity and recognising the critical role of finance in reversing nature loss. Several of these institutions were already collaborating as a finance community, under the EU Business@Biodiversity Platform.
The Pledge was the first global initiative to unite financial institutions on biodiversity, with commitments to: collaborate and share knowledge, engage with companies, assess biodiversity impact, set targets, and report publicly on progress.
Foundation established in 2021
To support signatories and accelerate collaboration, the Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation was founded in 2021 under the leadership of Anita de Horde (Executive Director) and Anne-Marie Bor.
The first four working groups focused on company engagement, impact assessment, target setting and public policy advocacy. Later, the positive impact working group was launched, with more groups added in 2025.
All working groups are coordinated jointly by co-chairs from member institutions together with the FfB Secretariat. This co-chair model remains the cornerstone of the Foundation’s bottom-up process, ensuring strong member ownership and collaborative leadership.
In April 2022, the FfB Advisory Board was established to advise on strategy and progress.
These collaborative spaces, and the unique guidance developed by each dedicated working group, continue to be the foundation of the Finance for Biodiversity.
Where we are today
Today, the FfB Foundation – an independent non-profit organisation – unites around 200 global financial institutions as signatories of the FfB Pledge. Some 90 members of the Foundation are actively engaged in peer learning and collaboration in FfB working groups, building ongoing guidance and frameworks for the financial sector on integrating nature into strategies, investments and ESG policies.
FfB plays a critical and unique role in supporting financial institutions to independently act on nature loss and drive positive impact, as well as advocating for world leaders to take decisive action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss this decade.
Together, we are shaping a financial system that values and protects nature.
