Business Models for Biodiversity
*Note the starting time for this webinar (one hour earlier than usual)*
In December 2015, representatives from 188 governments came together at COP15 to adopt a landmark international agreement for biodiversity: The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Many commentators have touted the GBF, which pledges to protect 30% of global habitats by 2030 through a variety of multi-stakeholder approaches, as the “Paris Agreement of biodiversity”.
Even though both the COP for the Convention on Biological Diversity and that for Climate were first established in 1992, progress on biodiversity commitments and efforts have lagged far behind. Scientists estimate that current rates of extinction are 100 to even 1,000 higher than natural rates. Clearly, the need for action for biodiversity conservation and restoration has never been starker.
With increasing pressures and an international limelight cast on biodiversity, the question on many people’s minds is – how?
In this live Building an Impact Economy Series webinar, we highlight three innovators and entrepreneurs who are tackling different aspects of the biodiversity crisis: habitat and wildlife crimes, biodiversity business risks, and the private funding gap for biodiversity. Through our discussion, we will cover a variety of topics including:
Biodiversity in context: The scale and urgency of the issue
Climate and Biodiversity: How is addressing the biodiversity crisis different from addressing the climate crisis? What additional challenges need to be addressed to achieve biodiversity-positive outcomes, besides driving for carbon net-zero?
A Market for Biodiversity? Corporate incentives for participating in biodiversity protection and restoration, and moving from innate to instrumental values on nature
Scaling Solutions: What have been the biggest challenges for scaling solutions for biodiversity, and what coming next that will allow us to address these challenges?
Biodiversity credit space: What trends and developments do we see for the space across both regulatory and voluntary markets?
Featured Guests
Dr. Eric Dinerstein is President and CEO of WildTech/Nightjar. For much of the past 25 years, he was Chief Scientist at the World Wildlife Fund. Beginning in 1975, he led pioneering studies and conservation programs for endangered species such as tigers, greater-one horned rhinoceros, and Asiatic elephants. Most recently, he led the publication of conservation frameworks—the Global Deal for Nature and the Global Safety Net—to address the extinction and climate crises. At WildTech/Nightjar, Eric leads the creation of TrailGuard AI, an innovative camera-based real-time alert system to prevent wildlife poaching and human-wildlife conflict, and enhance security in remote areas of importance.
Ash Knop
Before co-founding and running Wilderlands, Ash Knop headed up the innovation portfolio of conservation organisation Cassinia Environmental. Prior to this, Ash established his career in sales, senior management and strategy within the not-for-profit sector, whilst founding a number of start-ups in the health and tourism sectors.
Rachel Lim is an impact investment analyst at Silverstrand Capital, a Singapore-based family office investing in biodiversity and the regenerative economy. She holds a dual degree from Claremont McKenna College in Biology and Environmental Policy. Rachel is passionate about environmental protection, and in the innovative, intersectional solutions which can enable wide-scale systems change. At Silverstrand, her work includes project due diligence, portfolio management, and communications. Her latest responsibility is in managing the Biodiversity Accelerator+, a three-month program helping entrepreneurs addressing the biodiversity crisis to scale. Prior to her time at Silverstrand she has worked with spiders, turtles, corals, and more.
Dr. Debbie Saunders is an accomplished entrepreneur and leader with 25+ years of industry experience. She is the CEO and Founder of a deep tech company transforming biodiversity conservation through innovative technological solutions. This includes Nature Data Insights, an online platform enabling corporations to manage biodiversity risks for a nature-positive future, and Wildlife Drones, the world’s most advanced drone radio-telemetry technology used by species managers worldwide. Dr. Saunders holds a PhD in Conservation Ecology from the Australian National University and has secured multiple business innovation awards and over $4.5 million in grants and investments.
Location: Virtual
Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023