Stakeholders in nature finance gathered on 21st May at Edinburgh Futures Institute to explore how finance and nature can interact to produce a more sustainable future. With academics, investors, policymakers and practitioners all gathered under one roof, lively discussions about the opportunities and risks of integrating nature into finance and finance into nature punctuated a range of interesting presentations and panel sessions.
The day opened with a panel discussing how corporate nature performance is being evaluated and integrated into the decision making of asset owners and managers. This was followed by a wide-ranging session with speakers providing perspectives on how to achieve high-integrity in nature finance markets.
After networking over lunch, the session reconvened for Ed Mitchard's keynote discussing his career in developing tools and businesses to provide scientifically rigorous measurement and monitoring of ecosystems and land use, with a particular focus on the tropics. This was followed by sessions discussing nature finance in banking and innovation in nature data and accounting.
The day offered insight into the breadth of perspectives in the nature finance space and ample opportunity for robust discussion over the potential and pitfalls associated with it. Gabriel Paun's closing keynote offered a holistic reflection on the purpose of nature finance, providing personal insight into the collective fight for stewardship of nature and a sustainable and just future for all.
Many thanks are due to all speakers and attendees who made the day such a success. The CircHive project hopes to continue to engage with external stakeholders both at events like this and right here on the BEEHive. Join us by following the steps here: circhive.eu/beehive/how-join-beehive.