High-level event promotes discussion on the G20 role in supporting the implementation of Nature & Biodiversity disclosure  

The Embassy of Brazil recently played host to an engaging High-Level Workshop on Nature & Biodiversity within the G20, which this year is under Brazil’s presidency. 

Titled “Disclosure on Nature & Biodiversity”, this official T20 event brought together more than 150 attendees from both public and private sectors, but also participants from academia and civil society, from over 15 countries. The event kicked off with a speech by the Ambassador of Brazil to Germany, His Excellency Roberto Jaguaribe, followed by an intervention of Mr. H. David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and of Mr. Hugo Rivera Mendoza, team leader of the Post 2020 – Biodiversity Framework EU Support project, who financed this workshop.  

 ”Nature must be at the core of corporate disclosure if we want to face the climate, pollution and biodiversity crises. The good news is, there are already standards and initiatives that can serve as a starting point to successfully integrate biodiversity into ESG [Economic, Social and Governance]”, stated Hugo Rivera Mendoza, setting the scene for the workshop.  

Two keynote speakers from Brazilian ministries, Mr. Matias Cardomingo and Dr. Braulio Dias, emphasised the relevance of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), recently renamed The Biodiversity Plan, and recalled the need of sustainability reporting, within the implementation of the GBF Target 15: “Businesses Assess, Disclose and Reduce Biodiversity-Related Risks and Negative Impacts”.  

Two panels followed to discuss the following: “How can the G20 support the successful implementation & adoption of international disclosure frameworks & standards?” and “Disclosure on biodiversity & nature: challenges & opportunities in practice”. The discussions emphasised the important role of the G20 in promoting corporate transparency on nature and biodiversity related risks and impacts. There was a high level of consensus among the panellists – which represented various sectors, and included representatives from DHL Group, the Carbon Disclosure Project, Climate & Company, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), and Bayer AG – on the need to enhance alignment and coherence among ambitious disclosure standards and frameworks, and the need to embed them in mandatory reporting regulations. Representatives of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS) also gave their reactions to the panellists’ interventions and supported the expressed need for ambitious, mandatory, and internationally aligned reporting standards.   

While G20 countries are adopting climate-related disclosure requirements, there is a call for broader interoperability among standards and frameworks and an expansion beyond just climate, alongside a push for more G20-supported pilot studies and efforts in knowledge sharing and capacity building. Outstanding initiatives like CEBDS’s work on GBF Target 15 can serve as exemplary models for other countries within the G20.  

The workshop was organised by the G20 Sustainable Finance for Nature & People project, led by Sustainable Finance think-tank Climate & Company, with the support of the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework – EU Support project, funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France.  

It was the first in a series of events throughout the year, in preparation for the CBD COP16, the Conference of Parties on Biodiversity, to be held in Colombia from October 21st to November 1st, 2024. Upcoming events to continue this high-level discussion will be announced soon. Besides organising capacity-building activities, this project has planned to deliver policy briefs and technical notes on the topic of disclosure for nature and biodiversity that will be published soon.   

For media inquiries, please contact:   Clive Cusens, [email protected]  

THE SUSTAINABLE FINANCE FOR NATURE & PEOPLE PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE CONTENT OF THIS PRESS RELEASE IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF CLIMATE & COMPAY AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.