Addressing the loss of biodiversity is a global imperative, as continued loss will bear considerable implications to our economic prosperity and human well- being. It is widely recognized that the impact on the Earth's natural systems due to human activity has worsened in the past decades. For example, in terms of food production, 87% of the world's fisheries are overexploited and agricultural lands are under considerable stress. In addition, despite the multiple services and benefits that forests provide, deforestation continues and accounts for nearly 15% of worldwide carbon emissions. From our oceans to our drylands, and other ecosystems, the growing pressures from human activities, threaten invaluable assets critical to our survival.
The 2018 World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report places biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as a top global risk. In this context, there has been increasing interest for broader mobilization of support to realize the multiple value of nature by protecting and restoring ecosystems, as well as sustainably using biodiversity, not only for human wellbeing, but also to examine new economic development opportunities, including contributions that the biodiversity agenda could play in a circular economy and natural capital sustainable development approaches.
In response, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has increasingly seen the critical role that businesses must play in addressing biodiversity. Co-organized by Government of Egypt under the auspices of H.E Dr. Sahar Nasr Minister of Investment and International Cooperation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Business and Biodiversity Forum will take place from 14-15 November 2018, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, ahead of the opening of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 14).
South Pole's CEO Renat Heuberger will attend the high-level event and speak on the Finance Panel.
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