Home » NewsOctober 2020 newsletter Date Posted 3rd November 2020 In short: Three co-chairs have been nominated to lead the Informal Working Group (IWG). The 62 members of the working group held their second meeting on 8 October. In addition, the IWG and the Technical Expert Group (TEG) completed six discussion sessions on the scope of the TNFD. Highlights of the month Three co-chairs nominated to lead the Informal Working Group (IWG) Antoine Sire, Director of Company Engagement and Member of the Group Executive Committee, BNP Paribas Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute Mariuz Calvet Roquero, Director of Sustainability and Responsible Investment, Banorte Together, they will lead the monthly meetings of the IWG, which is tasked with setting up and launching a work plan for the TNFD. Until the formation of the Task Force itself in the first half of 2021, the co-chairs will ensure the working group meets milestones and makes timely decisions. Second meeting of the IWG On 8 October, the IWG held their second meeting. Having now nominated co-chairs, the working group is focused on approving a small selection of proposed work streams for the next months. The IWG and the Technical Expert Group (TEG) complete six discussion sessions Over two weeks, the IWG and the TEG held discussion sessions on the scope of the TNFD across six areas: nature, finance, risks, data, standards and scenarios. Now, the TEG is preparing a synthesis document summarising their discussions. Designed to support the IWG, the Technical Expert Group (TEG) consists of individuals with a wide range of technical expertise, including financial risk analysis, particularly with respect to climate and environmental risks; large scale data management, standardisationand verification; biodiversity impacts and dependencies and natural capital frameworks; and international agreements and processes. Co-chairs of the TEG are Nicky Chambers, Programme and Impact Director, Global Canopy and Simon Zadek, Sherpa of UN Secretary General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals; Chair of the Migrant Nation Foundation, and Chair of the Finance for Biodiversity initiative. Observer group members still being selected The Observer Group allows for a broader selection of organisations to closely follow and comment on the activities of the IWG. Members are still being selected. If you want to find out more, get in touch by emailing [email protected] Opportunities to join initiatives and events 9-11 November: Green Horizon Summit. Day 2 includes a session on Nature and Net Zero, encompassing panel discussions ‘Is Nature the Next Frontier?’ and ‘Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets’, as well as a fireside chat, ‘The Economics of Biodiversity’. You can register your interest to attend here. Until 13 November: Have your say about the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Business for Nature is hosting a Business consultation on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Have your say by completing the survey before 13 November. All month: Join Business for Nature’s Call to Action: More than 560 companies with combined revenue of US$ 4 trillion, including several financial institutions, have now signed up to Business for Nature’s Call to Action, urging governments to adopt policies now to reverse nature loss. If you’re a business and want to get involved, you can sign up here. All month: Apply for the newly launched Earthshot prize. The challenge of protecting and restoring nature is one of five ‘Earthshot’ challenges covered by the brand new Earthshot prize, which will award five one million-pound prizes each year to innovative solutions. Solutions can come in the form of new technologies, systems or policies, with the first batch of prizes to be awarded in autumn 2021. Relevant content released this month Global Canopy (29 October) Nature and climate: Five ways the data and metrics differ. The short explainer sets out critical differences between climate and nature when it comes to data, metrics and methodologies. UN PRI (26 October) An investor guide to negative emission technologies and the importance of land use. The report explores the opportunities and risks associated with negative emissions technologies, in particular nature-based solutions. They estimate that nature-based solutions could be a 1.2 trillion dollar market by 2050. Green Finance Institute (22 October) Green is the New Finance – interview with head of sustainable finance, WWF-UK. In this podcast episode, WWF’s Ray Dhirani talks through five recommendations for finance sector action on nature, based on the film Our Planet: Too Big to Fail. Finance for biodiversity (20 October) Aligning Global Finance with Nature’s Needs: A Framework for Systemic Change. The white paper sets out an ambitious agenda of six areas for action to align finance with nature protection. UNEP FI Global Roundtable (14 October) Setting biodiversity targets. In this virtual conference session, representatives from AXA, Caisse Depot, Citi and Natixis provided insights on how to speed up the financial sector’s response on nature loss, and the role of data, metrics and target setting. Sustainable Finance Platform’s Biodiversity Working Group (12 October) A Guideline on the use of Deforestation Risk Mitigation Solutions for Financial Institutions. The report sets out services and tools financial institutions can use to analyse and tackle deforestation risks, alongside an action plan and best practices. Trase (7 October) How financial institutions are exposed to deforestation risks. This blog, part of a new Finance Collection, explains the finance sector’s deforestation risk exposure and how data from the newly launched Trase Finance tool can help financial institutions manage this risk. UN PRI (6 October) Investors must act to address biodiversity loss. This blog post sets out what investors are doing on biodiversity and how they can scale up action. Ethical Finance 2020 (6 October) Finance for Nature. This 10-min presentation highlights recent initiatives to tackle nature loss, including TNFD, and sets out five concrete recommendations for actions financial institutions can take to address nature-related risks. In case you missed it Swiss Re (23 September) Habitat, water security and air quality. New index reveals which sectors and countries are at risk from biodiversity loss. 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 Reuters (28 October): Bank loans scrutinized for harm to wildlife as well as climate IPE (15 October): People moves: AP7 adds to supervisory board; KPA Pension’s new CEO Environmental Finance (13 October): Co-chairs confirmed for TNFD Working Group BusinessGreen (13 October): Institutional Investors Managing $5tr Pledge 2025 Portfolio CO2 Goals Euromoney (9 October): Nature is the new climate and it needs financing Rsedatanews.net (8 October): Après le climat, la biodiversité aura bientôt sa “Task Force” (TNFD) Central Banking (5 October): Beyond climate: addressing the ‘E’ in ESG Sign up to our mailing list to receive our newsletter