The EBRD at Biodiversity COP17

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will take part in the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), reaffirming its commitment to supporting global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and translate international biodiversity goals into investment and action.

The conference comes at an important moment for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, as countries undertake the first global review of collective progress since the framework was adopted in 2022. COP17 will bring together governments, international organisations, development partners, businesses and civil society to advance the global biodiversity agenda.

For the EBRD, protecting and restoring nature is closely linked to economic resilience and sustainable growth. Healthy ecosystems underpin food and water security, resilient infrastructure and supply chains, while biodiversity loss can create significant risks for economies and businesses.

As a multilateral development bank (MDB) with a strong focus on private-sector investment, the EBRD brings together project origination, private-sector mobilisation, blended finance, policy dialogue, technical assistance and strong environmental and social safeguards.

The EBRD delegation will be headed by Fatoumata Bouaré, Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, and will include senior representatives such as Gianpiero Nacci, Managing Director for Climate Strategy and Delivery, Maya Hennerkes, Managing Director for Environment and Sustainability, Elisabetta Falcetti, Managing Director for Türkiye and the Caucasus, and others who work across nature, climate, agribusiness and environmental and social sustainability.

The EBRD will lead the following key events:

From restoration to investment: who pays for nature at scale?

22 October | 10.00-11.00

Joint MDB pavilion and live here

This event will bring together governments, private investors, project developers and MDBs to examine the business models, funding mechanisms and risk-sharing arrangements that can make restoration commercially viable. The discussion will focus on how restoration projects can generate sustainable revenue through mechanisms such as payments for ecosystem services, resilient agricultural and forestry value chains, biodiversity and carbon markets, water-related revenues and outcome-based public incentive schemes.

Speakers will explore how public funding, philanthropy, concessional capital and MDB support can catalyse private investment, address residual risks and create investable portfolios that deliver measurable benefits for nature while enhancing economic resilience, strategic autonomy and long-term prosperity.

Building bridges: linking nature outcomes to infrastructure investment

22 October | 15.00-16.15

Joint MDB pavilion and live here

Infrastructure investments are one of the largest drivers of biodiversity loss, but they can also be among the most important supporters of biodiversity recovery. MDBs are increasingly testing different approaches to deliver nature-positive outcomes through infrastructure investments across agriculture, transport, energy, water and wastewater, coastal and marine infrastructure, the built environment and urban areas.

Drawing on their practical experiences across sectors and regions, MDBs and their partners will use this session to explain how they are integrating nature into infrastructure planning, design, financing and long-term stewardship, and what it will take to move from individual or small-scale pilots to mainstreamed nature investment approaches. The discussion will focus not only on project-level success stories, but also on the governance, financing, monitoring and institutional arrangements required to sustain nature outcomes over time.

MDB nature finance – contributions to the implementation of the GBF

26 October | 11.30-12.30

Vayk – Side-event Room 3 Side Event Registration

At the event, the MDB Nature Group will launch Common Principles, Taxonomy and Metrics: a voluntary high-level status report. The report represents a collaborative effort to publish MDBs’ progress on the application of the Common Principles, Nature Finance Taxonomy and Guidance on Results Metrics. It captures high-level information on the methodology, areas of focus, and early insights from initial implementation.

Compatibility of 30x30 and tripling renewable energy

26 October | 15.15-16.00

Lori – Meeting Room 4 – Block 2, 3rd Floor Side Event Registration 

This discussion will explore how policy support, integrated spatial planning, safeguards and good practice can help transform potential trade-offs into opportunities for nature-positive renewable energy development. Discussions will focus on practical experiences, lessons learned and innovative approaches for aligning climate and nature finance, reducing land-use conflicts, supporting ecosystem restoration and mobilising investment that delivers measurable benefits for both biodiversity and the energy transition.

The event will provide a platform for identifying pathways to scale integrated climate and nature solutions and strengthen collaboration towards achieving global biodiversity and decarbonisation targets.

Financing the agrifood transition

28 October | 10.00-11.00

Joint MDB pavilion and live here

Mounting evidence shows that agricultural practices that conserve or restore the natural systems on which food production relies can be immediately low cost, and even profit-enhancing in the medium and long term. However, the agricultural transition has been slow to advance. Can finance help to accelerate its pace? What products and transactional structures do investors or corporates have available to target improved outcomes? What outcomes should be targeted? And what inputs, outputs or outcomes can and should be monitored across different time horizons, and by whom?

This panel seeks to address these questions in conversation with multiple players in the financial ecosystem, based on their own experiences and new innovations.

Launch of MDB Briefing Note: Identifying opportunities to support biodiversity objectives through MDB operations

28 October | 15.00-16.00

Joint MDB pavilion and live here

This event will mark the launch of MDB Briefing Note: Identifying opportunities to support biodiversity objectives through MDB operations. Developed by the EBRD together with other MDBs, the briefing note explores the integration of biodiversity gains into development finance and identifies opportunities for nature recovery through established safeguarding approaches. 

The event will bring together MDBs, policymakers, conservation organisations and practitioners to discuss how biodiversity gains approaches can contribute to delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework, mobilise investment for ecosystem restoration and scale nature-positive infrastructure across regions and sectors.