Home » NewsNovember 2020 newsletter Date Posted 8th December 2020 In short: 11 new organisations have joined the Informal Working Group that will bring together a TNFD, taking the total member count to 73. Four work streams have been established, helping the Working Group streamline their work over the next months. Highlights of the month 11 new members of the Informal Working Group (IWG) After careful selection by the TNFD partner organisations and IWG co-chairs, another 11 organisations have now joined the working group. The new members are: Corporates: H&M Group; Iberdrola; JBS; Reckitt Benckiser (UK); Rio Tinto; and Tesco Finance institutions: Brazil’s National Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; Raiffeisen Switzerland; and the Retirement Benefits Authority (Kenya) Government: the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands The IWG now totals 73 members. Together, the group is continuing their task of establishing a detailed framework and two-year work plan for the Taskforce on Naturerelated Disclosures itself, which is planned to launch in 2021. IWG divided into four workstreams To streamline their work, IWG members are now divided across the following four priority areas of action: Governance Work-plan and Budget TNFD Resourcing Communications and Knowledge Management These four targeted workstreams sit alongside the Technical Expert Group (TEG), which is designed to support the IWG. In particular, the TEG is developing a draft scope of work for the TNFD under the direction of the IWG. All workstreams have now had initial meetings and started working on their specific deliverables, which are informed by the scope of the TNFD that the TEG is delivering. The TEG is made up of individuals with a wide range of expertise, including financial risk analysis, particularly with respect to climate and environmental risks; large scale data management, standardisation and verification; biodiversity impacts and dependencies and natural capital frameworks; and international agreements and processes. 45 organisations have joined as IWG Observers The Observer Group allows for a broader group of organisations to closely follow the activities of the IWG and enable them to comment on the IWG deliberations. Opportunities to join initiatives and events 8-9 December: European Business & Nature Summit. Day two of the event includes several finance-focused sessions, including a session on ‘Transforming financing: biodiversity, opportunities & risks for the financial sector.’ Registration is free. Save the date: the One Planet Summit – 11 January 2021: Hosted by France’s president Macron, alongside the United Nations and the World Bank, the One Planet Summit will this year have a particular focus on taking action on biodiversity, environmental preservation and climate protection. The agenda is yet to be released, but the initiative to bring together a TNFD will be represented at the event. All month: Engage with the Blended Finance Taskforce case study library: The Blended Finance Taskforce has launched a campaign to collect over 500 case studies of nature-positive business models and financial solutions. Have a look at the first 50 plus examples or contribute your own. Relevant content released this month BusinessGreen (25 November) Public development banks have an opportunity and a responsibility – to lead on nature. This OpEd from Nicky Chambers, co-chair of the Technical Expert Group of the initiative to bring together a TNFD, sets out what the new joint declaration from the world’s development banks means for nature. Ecosystem Services (25 November) Finance for nature: A global estimate of public biodiversity investments. This journal article finds that public biodiversity expenditures are US$121 billion globally, equivalent to 0.19-0.25% of global GDP. Nature4Climate (13 November) Race to Zero Dialogues: Nature’s place in the racethe Business Case. The virtual event demonstrates the business case for nature and climate protection and shows how nature-based solutions can be part of the private sector response to the climate crisis. The session is available to watch on demand. UNEP-WCMC (13 November) Strengthening synergies: how action to achieve post2020 global biodiversity conservation targets can contribute to mitigating climate change. The report highlights priority areas for global conservation action. BNP Paribas (12 November) Climate is one thing – but how can the finance sector address biodiversity risk? The article sets out how biodiversity is emerging as a material risk, and how the TNFD and existing tools, like ENCORE, can help financial institutions respond. Natural Capital Finance Alliance (12 November) Nature-related financial risks gain urgency in emerging markets. The blog explains how financial institutions in Colombia, Peru and South Africa are beginning to tackle nature-related risks, exemplifying a trend across emerging markets. Project Syndicate (11 November) How Public Development Banks Can Help Nature. UN CBD’s Executive Director Elizabeth Mrema and CEO of the Global Environment Fund Carlos Manuel Rodriguez says the world’s development banks should complement their climate investments by setting explicit nature-based goals and targets. Environmental Finance (10 November) Investment for resilience in a post-Covid world. In an OpEd, WWF’s Margaret Kuhlow argues the world’s public development banks must do more to champion nature-positive investments. Global Canopy (5 November) How the Dutch Central Bank is Leading on Naturerelated Risks. The blog highlights how the Dutch Central Bank and financial supervisor, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), became the first central bank to highlight biodiversity as a material financial risk, setting an example for other central banks to follow. Finance for Biodiversity Initiative (4 November) Aligning Development Finance with Nature’s Needs. The report estimates that US$3.1 trillion of the $11.2 trillion invested by the world’s 450 DFIs at the end of 2019 was financing projects or activities highly dependent on vulnerable ecosystems. In addition, US$1.1 trillion of their financing could be having a negative impact on nature. UNDP (12 November) OECD and UNDP launch a plan to align global finance with sustainable development. The new framework for SDG Aligned Finance identifies solutions to shift trillions of dollars towards more sustainable and resilient investments, including biodiversity and nature conservation. For a longer list of relevant readings released the past years, have a look at the official ‘Bringing together a TNFD’ website: ‘What you can do now.’ TNFD in the news – highlights Bloomberg (13 November): Why Fund Managers Started Worrying About Biodiversity Finance in Common (12 November): Joint Declaration of all public development banks in the world Edie.net (2 November): Natural Capital Committee: Environment Bill updates must stop businesses destroying nature ENDS Report (12 November): Sunak mandates climate risk disclosures Dagens Industri (13 November): Bankerna ger bonus efter anställdas hållbarhet IFAW (16 November): Global leadership of public development banks to address biodiversity Climate & Development Knowledge Network (30 November): FEATURE: Nature for recovery and resilience Sign up to our mailing list to receive our newsletter