The report “Finance, Nature and Food Transitions: Opportunities for the Brazilian agri-food system”, presents six recommendations about agri-food systems for the next administration. The study urges candidates to clearly signal compliance with the legislation through communication and the practice of law enforcement, indicating the non-tolerance of illegality in land and natural resource use practices, and recommends the prompt reintegration of the environmental inspection bodies capacities and activities, including the monitoring and punishment of illegal deforestation. To know more about the document presented to candidates on Brazilian 2022 elections.

A conjuntura social e econômica somada às já conhecidas demandas por uma produção de alimentos mais saudável e com impactos positivos para o clima e natureza tornam urgentes as transformações no sistema de produção agroalimentar, no qual o Brasil é protagonista. A boa notícia é que muitos dos múltiplos riscos enfrentados pelo sistema agroalimentar brasileiro podem ser mitigados, o que exige uma forte liderança política e engajamento do setor financeiro como investidor dessa cadeia de valor. Para saber mais, baixe o relatório completo aqui.

This report focuses on the role of consumers in fostering necessary food system transitions. Indeed, consumers as key stakeholders, need to be placed at the centre of just and effective food system transformation. When empowered by transparency and education, they can be instrumental in reducing harmful environmental impacts and can become key influencers by making changes in their own lives and as drivers levers for broader change. The goal of this study was to provide proven strategies to e-commerce providers on how to effectively support their customers in the transition towards healthier and more sustainable food, while at the same time showing policymakers that a transition towards more sustainable food systems can be facilitated.

O estudo “Finanças, Natureza e Transições Alimentares - Oportunidades para o sistema agroalimentar brasileiro”, apresenta seis recomendações sobre os sistemas agroalimentares para o próximo governo. O estudo conclama os candidatos a sinalizar clara- mente o cumprimento da legislação, por meio da aplicação da lei e da comunicação, indicando a não tolerância à ilegalidade nas práticas de uso da terra e dos recursos naturais, e recomenda a pronta reintegração das capacidades e atividades dos órgãos de fiscalização ambiental, incluindo o monitoramento e a punição do desmatamento ilegal. Para saber mais do documento encaminhado aos candidatos as eleições de 2022.

The report results indicate that a ‘policy-facilitated’ transition improves economic and social outcomes in the agricultural and food systems compared to a ‘financial-risk driven transition, while also leading to better environmental outcomes. The ‘policy-facilitated' transition improves social and economic outcomes in the agricultural and food system.

This report highlights the importance of integrating nature-related risks into Debt Sustainability Analysis and proposes a four-step process for how it can be done. It provides compelling quantitative evidence that the inclusion of nature collapse scenarios is necessary to provide a full picture of debt sustainability risks to sovereigns.

Biodiversity loss, decline of ecosystem services, and overall environmental degradation can hit economies through multiple channels and impact sovereign creditworthiness. This report examines how biodiversity loss would affect sovereign debt markets in 26 nations. The findings have implications for credit rating agencies, investors, and sovereigns themselves…

Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) has published a new governance model for carbon offset markets that encourages governors of carbon markets to adopt three design principles to ensure the market grows rapidly, adheres to standards, and helps the global economy move toward net zero.

This investor guide presents steps that financial institutions can follow to use existing tools and datasets to screen investments for exposure to nature-related risks.

The Taskforce on Nature Market's initial white paper ‘The Future of Nature Markets’ covers challenges and opportunities associated with the emerging generation of nature markets and sets the scene for the upcoming work by the Taskforce.

Sovereign bond markets need to quickly and radically innovate in order to successfully integrate climate- and nature-related risks, and therefore finance the transition to a net zero, nature positive world, finds a new report from Finance for Biodiversity (F4B). The report also sets out why more and more issuers and investors are using performance-linked debt instruments, such as sustainability-linked or key performance indicator (KPI) instruments.

Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) has published a first-of-a-kind integrated transition framework that can be used by Financial Institutions (FIs) to manage risks and opportunities in their transition to a net-zero and nature positive world.

This document outlines the high-level platform architecture design of a new digital platform infrastructure, that would enable the financial and corporate communities to start to shape geolocation data sharing standards through new types of collaboration.

This report presents Finance for Biodiversity’s (F4B) analysis and recommendations on how to break the connection between environmental crimes and finance.

This report is an updated and expanded version of the one released in November 2020 ahead of the inaugural Finance in Common Summit. It uses readily available data to estimate the dependency of development banks’ balance sheets on vulnerable nature (‘dependency risk’), alongside the potential damage to nature from their lending activities (‘nature at risk’).

This paper analyses the duties of governments in relation to nature and the supervision of public development banks (PDBs). It also appraises the powers available to government shareholders to direct PDB management: to improve risk management practices related to nature dependency; and, to reduce impact on nature.

Based on over 400 institutional and academic publications, this literature review outlines the major ongoing debates on the Food-Finance Nexus and centralizes references to the most relevant publications. It is one of the most extensive reviews of the food-finance literature undertaken to date.

This report describes the current state of the nexus between the global food and financial systems and explores how the two can be better aligned to deliver an inclusive, healthy, and environmentally sustainable food system. It maps out how global finance can be shaped to support the needed transition.

F4B has compiled answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Nature Performance Bonds to help issuers and investors navigate these developments.

The Greenness of Stimulus Index (GSI) assesses the effectiveness of the COVID-19 stimulus efforts by G20 countries and ten other nations in ensuring an economic recovery that takes advantage of sustainable growth opportunities, and builds resilience through the protection of the climate and biodiversity. This assessment represents the final GSI update in its current form. The policies in this release are current as of 30 June 2021. The previous release was published in February 2021.

A new report from WWF, with contributions from F4B, highlights the urgency for central banks and financial supervisors to act on the risk of unprecedented nature loss.

F4B believes that The Taskforce for Scaling the Voluntary Carbon Market's (TSVCM) can be strengthened by additions to the Mandate and Terms of Reference of the Governance Body. Our suggestions set out in this note and co-developed with Climate Advisers, will help build trust in the Voluntary Carbon Market, strengthen its governance so it is best able to meet the challenges that lie ahead and so ensure that the work of the Taskforce achieves the success it deserves.

This report from Vivid Economics provides quantitative analysis of ten EU National Resilience and Recovery Plans (NRRPs) and finds that they miss a major opportunity to invest in a nature-positive recovery. The NRRPs aim to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and build a more sustainable and cohesive Europe-wide economy. While the NRRPs largely deliver on the climate agenda, they do not form a coherent response to the multiple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and the economic ramifications of COVID-19.

‘The Climate-Nature Nexus’ takes a practical look at where climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities do and don’t overlap; what that means for the investment potential of different sectors and solutions; and how much of the nature problem financial institutions address if they cover climate well.

This paper examines the origins of values and, in particular, values for nature. It looks at how nature values are embodied in guiding principles for society, and explores how some widely-held values have been material within the financial sector. This paper is authored by James Leape of Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Morrison Mast of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, on behalf of the Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) initiative.

This paper sets out the opportunity for China to engage in developments linking debt and biodiversity. It argues for a rapid and ambitious approach for China to develop Nature Performance Bonds (NPBs).

White paper setting out a proposal for a Nature and Climate Bond facility to ofrer governments and investors a means to recognise nature’s contribution to long-term sustainability and economic performance, at the same time providing urgent solutions to the debt crisis.

The Greenness of Stimulus Index (GSI) assesses the effectiveness of the COVID-19 stimulus efforts by G20 countries and ten other nations in ensuring an economic recovery that takes advantage of sustainable growth opportunities, and builds resilience through the protection of the climate and biodiversity.

The Finance for Biodiversity Initiative response to the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity. This note compares the Dasgupta Review’s recommendations with our framework and makes detailed policy recommendations.

Report submitted as evidence to the independent Dasgupta Review, by Vivid Economics The Urgency of Biodiversity Action compares the cost to the world’s governments of two strategies for achieving forest conservation goals by 2050: acting now or putting action off for a decade.

The Greenness of Stimulus Index (GSI) assesses the effectiveness of the COVID-19 stimulus efforts by G20 countries and other major economies in ensuring an economic recovery that takes advantage of sustainable growth opportunities, and builds resilience through the protection of the climate and biodiversity. December 2020 edition of the Greenness of the Stimulus Index

Aligning Development Finance with Nature’s Needs: Protecting Nature’s Development Dividend” uses readily available data to estimate the dependency of development finance institutions’ (DFIs’) collective balance sheet on vulnerable nature (“dependency risk”), alongside the potential damage to nature from their lending activities (“nature at risk”). 

The Greenness of Stimulus Index (GSI) assesses the effectiveness of the COVID-19 stimulus efforts by G20 countries and other major economies in ensuring an economic recovery that takes advantage of sustainable growth opportunities, and builds resilience through the protection of the climate and biodiversity. October 2020 edition of the Greenness of the Stimulus Index

This briefing sets out six recommendations for a systemic framework to aligning finance to nature by changing processes, capabilities and expertise, liabilities, incentives, controls, standards and flows of data.

The Greeness of Stimulus Index (GSI) assesses the effectiveness of the COVID-19 stimulus efforts by G20 countries in ensuring an economic recovery that takes advantage of sustainable growth oppor-tunities, and builds resilience through the protection of the climate and biodiversity (Latest edition)

This report by Global Canopy and Vivid Economics in support of the Task Force for Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Initiative outlines why tackling nature-related risks is an urgent priority for the finance sector, and how a Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures can help.

This policy briefing summarises sets out the case for developing Nature Performance Bonds, to use the opportunity of debt restructuring to provide incentives for measurable environmental outcomes.

This technical paper sets out an approach to link the cost of sovereign debt with success in protecting or enhancing a country’s valued, productive natural capital.

The Green Stimulus Index (GSI) assesses the effectiveness of the COVID-19 stimulus efforts in ensuring an economic recovery that takes advantage of sustainable growth opportunities, and is resilient to climate and biodiversity. It provides a method to gauge the current impact of the COVID-19 responses, to track countries’ progress over time, and to identify and recommend measures for improving the effectiveness of those responses.

This report by the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative seeks to provide guidance on the nature and extent of litigation and legal risks that should be considered in determining the potential materiality of biodiversity. It proposes a framework by which biodiversity-related legal liability risks should be considered by financial sector supervisors and participants .

This note is part of a series looking at climate change and biodiversity considerations in economic responses to COVID-19.

This technical paper presents options for advancing the place of biodiversity in sovereign debt. It argues for the implementation of performance-based debt instruments like bonds tied in part to environmental outcomes.

Finance for Biodiversity - Integrating climate change and biodiversity into the response to COVID-19: Bailout measures

Finance for Biodiversity - Integrating climate change and biodiversity into the response to COVID-19: International financial flows

Robin Smale and Simon Zadek have released a White Paper to promote dialogue between initiatives working on finance and biodiversity. The 2020s will be pivotal for nature. This common framework aims to unify messaging, assist prioritisation of action and improve communication across initiatives, all within a systemic approach.

By Green Digital Finance Alliance - The report maps the fintech for biodiversity landscape, then looks at the potential to re-purpose fintech from adjacent verticals to innovate biodiversity finance, and then looks specifically at new and emerging data sets offered by digital technology to drive financial decision-making. Its insights can be used to design avenues to apply these emerging approaches to scale biodiversity finance by addressing the specific investment challenges presented by nature-based assets.
Date: March 2020