On the ground at COP15: How business is getting to grips with biodiversity

The U.N. biodiversity conference known as COP15 ended earlier this week with a landmark agreement for nature, the Global Biodiversity Framework. In this episode of ESG Insider, we unpack the big takeaways from the conference through several on-the-ground interviews in Montreal. We speak to Laurence Pessez, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at the big French bank BNP Paribas. We sit down with Simon Zadek, Executive Director of NatureFinance, a nonprofit focused on advancing the place of nature in decision-making across financial and capital markets. We talk to Linda Krueger, Director of Biodiversity and Infrastructure Policy at The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit. And we hear from Tim Christophersen, Vice President for Climate Action at global technology company Salesforce. The business community has arrived at "the social tipping point of understanding that we cannot continue to just extract natural capital from Planet Earth without giving back," Tim tells us. And that realization is occurring "not only in the sustainability teams of companies, but in boardrooms with CEOs, with chief finance officers," Tim says. "We've never seen so much business interest in this topic." We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Copyright © 2022 by S&P Global DISCLAIMER By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties. S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.