Event

WBA at COP16

Colombia is hosting the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), where world governments and civil society will come together to review the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

WBA along with our allies and partners will host a variety of events at COP16 (in-person only). We will also have WBA experts as featured speakers at various events in the Blue and Green Zones. We invite you to engage with us on our COP16 agenda to drive corporate accountability towards the GBF goals. Please continue to check this page for updates as more event details are added to the agenda.

Effective due diligence – bringing together people and planet

When:  25 October, 12:00-13:00 (local time)
Location:  Nature Positive Pavilion, Blue Zone
Partners: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

In many ways, action and expectations for businesses on human rights and the environment have evolved separately, and in parallel. In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly agreed that a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right. Despite this, recent data from the World Benchmarking Alliance shows that less than 2% of the major, influential companies assessed make a commitment to respecting local communities’ environmental rights.

However, social norms and legal requirements for companies to address both the human rights and environmental harms across their upstream and downstream supply chains are evolving. Several actors are working to equip businesses to implement effective human rights due diligence with an environmental perspective.

In this context – and in recognition of the fact that a continued dislocation of nature action from consideration of human rights generates risks of inadvertent negative consequences, this session will bring together representatives from WBA, UNDP, and the Rainforest Alliance to provide practical lessons, guidance, and suggested next steps to promote progress.

Key areas of focus will include:
• Bring together the human rights and nature spaces (which are often separated within companies, CSOs, governments etc)
• Showcase latest thinking and guidance for companies (including using the new UNDP and UNWG guide for businesses on human rights due diligence and the environment)
• Share lessons learned and encourage further action

Register here to attend in person

Agri-sector: How this high-impact sector should and can transform

When: 30 October, 11:00-12:00 (local time)
Location: Green Zone (Zona Verde)
Partners: CDC Biodiversite, Business for Nature, Yara

Agri-food is one of the sectors with the highest impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is also one of the most essential to human life and the wellbeing of our societies. We need to collectively better understand where the greatest pressures are along the value chain, in which specific industries, through which pressures & commodities – and work together to address them.

Leading corporates and organizations are already assessing their impacts and dependencies in line with the GBF’s target 15 and translating these assessments into relevant actions to reduce and avoid negative impacts and also to deliver biodiversity gains on the ground, while balancing critical trade-offs vis-a-vis food security and nutrition, farmer livelihoods and IPLCs needs.

Key areas of focus will include:
• Accounting for the impacts of the agri-food sector.
• Case study of collaboration across the value chain on nutrient use efficiency (NUE), which can contribute to reduced water pollution and GHG emissions on the farm.

Registration information will be available shortly

A Cup of Courage to Kickstart Business & Biodiversity day

When:27 October, 09:00-10:00 (local time)
Location:Nature Positive Pavilion, Blue Zone 
Partners: B-Team 

An interactive and intimate session jointly hosted by The World Benchmarking Alliance and The B Team as partners in the Nature Collective Impact Coalition, committed to bold action that furthers GBF Target 15.

With interventions from prominent global and regional business voices, including B Team Leaders Juan Carlos Mora Uribe, CEO of Bancolombia and Hiro Mizuno, founder and CEO of Good Steward Partnership and a special advisor to the CEO of MSCI, the session aims to amplify to policymakers, business and the broader ecosystem that progressive business voices want to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to find solutions to finance and scale action that supports nature, including the important role of assessing impacts and dependencies to understand our relationships with nature.

Due to limited room capacity, this session is invite-only and limited to 1 representative per organisation, with priority given to senior executives / leaders. If you would like to attend, please express your interest via this form)

From ambition to action: nature stewardship initiatives following COP15

When:  29 October, 11:45-12:45 (local time)
Location:  Finance for Biodiversity Pavilion, Blue Zone
Partners: Finance for Biodiversity, Pollination, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Nature Action 100

Two years ago, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was agreed at COP15. Since then, it is clear that nature is firmly on the agenda for many financial institutions.

A number of collective engagements have been launched, with the intention of helping investors to use their influence to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss by 2030.

In this session, representatives from WBA, PRI Spring, Nature Action 100 and Finance for Biodiversity will discuss their priorities, clarify how they relate to one another, reflect on areas for improvement, and stimulate further action among the audience.

Key areas of focus will include
• Showcase concrete examples of actions that have launched since COP15, and demonstrate links to the Global Biodiversity Framework
• Build understanding of the various stewardship initiatives on nature, and how they complement and support each other
• Share lessons learned and encourage further action
• Address blockers / constraints for participation in nature stewardship initiatives and ways to approach this

Register here to attend in person

What progress are major companies making on water stewardship - and how does it tie into wider nature action?

When: 30 October, 13:00-14:15 (local time)
Location:Dutch Pavilion, Blue Zone 
Partners: SBTN, Reforestamos Mexico, Government of Quebec

The private sector, as the largest user of freshwater resources globally, has an important role to play in ensuring water access for all. Water is especially relevant for industries relying on agriculture, which is responsible for 72% of all water withdrawals worldwide. The performance of companies in the food and agriculture sector, therefore, has important ramifications for ensuring sustainable water supplies globally.

This session will provide an overview on the following questions:

• How are large companies currently performing? WBA will share latest benchmark data showing how 350 Food & Agriculture companies are performing against key water parameters (water use, water quality and WASH).
• What should companies do? WBA, SBTN and Reforestamos will highlight specific steps and guidance available for companies. This includes a recognition of the fact that individual companies can make positive changes, but collaboration is also needed among companies (and other stakeholders).
What is needed to facilitate further action? SBTN will share lessons from the companies who participated in the pilot programme to set freshwater targets. Reforestamos will share lessons learned from on-the-ground projects.

Registration information will be available shortly.

Register here to attend in person
  • For any other questions about COP16, please contact Melis Ford at m.ford@worldbenchmarkingalliance.org 
  • For media who wish to interview our spokespeople at COP16, please contact Blanca Civit Sarda at press@worldbenchmarkingalliance.org 
Newsletter signup