On December 12, 2022, during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), civil society organizations impressed the importance of the international financial sector’s role in stopping and reversing biodiversity loss.

Sixty-five civil society organizations signed an open letter to commercial banks and financiers, and 51 groups sent a letter to public banks and multilateral financiers. Both statements highlighted the critical opportunity for banks to do more in demonstrating ambition and resolve to take responsibility in stopping and reversing biodiversity loss.

As part of this, banks should comply and implement relevant international and national policies and laws related to biodiversity protection. Banks should also follow and implement the spirit of biodiversity protection as set forth in the three overarching objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which includes conserving biodiversity, using biodiversity sustainably, and ensuring equitable and sustainable use of genetic resources.

Read the open letter to commercial banks and financers here.

Read the open letter to public banks and multilateral financiers here.