COP26 week one wrap up: deforestation, finance and nature

As the second week of the COP26 climate summit kicks off in Glasgow, Scotland, we take a moment to take stock of the key nature- and finance-related takeaways from the first week of the summit.

Deforestation commitments from 130 governments and 30+ financial institutions

Forests took centre stage early at COP26 with the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use. 100 world leaders committed to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, with US$19.2bn of finance across public and private finance backing this new global forest finance pledge. The number of government signatories has now reached 130. Financial institutions with US$8.7tn of assets under management also committed to end investment in agricultural commodity production linked to deforestation. Read more about why we are cautiously optimistic about the commitments via our COP26 Hub.

Watch this four minute clip from ‘Nature’s Newsroom’ of Niki Mardas, Global Canopy Executive Director, responding to the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

Launch of Finance Sector Roadmap for Eliminating Commodity-Driven Deforestation

On 3 November, Finance Day, alongside partners, Global Canopy launched the Deforestation-Free Finance website, which includes a new Finance Sector Roadmap for Eliminating Commodity-Driven Deforestation. The Roadmap recommends the key steps needed for financial institutions to eliminate commodity-driven deforestation, conversion, and associated human rights abuses from their portfolio by 2025. Read a summary of the Finance Sector Roadmap Announcement here.

Visit the Roadmap

Finance sector players highlight nature as key to delivering net zero

Finance Day also saw finance sector players highlight nature and biodiversity as key components of the race to net zero. This included the Chairs of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action and the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and architect of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the flagship initiative now backed by financial institutions with US$130tn of assets.

Initial findings from first TNFD-aligned research project

At the Finance for Nature Hub at Loch Lomond, Global Canopy held events on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). A high-level panel on the TNFD was moderated by Global Canopy Founder and Senior Adviser, Andrew Mitchell, who now serves as Vice Chair for the TNFD’s Stewardship Council, with Taskforce members Bank of America and Grieg Seafood. This panel was followed by an in-depth session on the initial findings of the first TNFD-aligned research project Global Canopy is running with UNEP FI. Learn more about the project here.

Forests feature in Nature Day announcements

Nature Day on 6 November included a flurry of announcements relevant to Global Canopy’s mission of targeting the market forces destroying nature:

• The Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition launched a new strategy and its 20 members, which includes retailers and manufacturers, committed to invest in local-level initiatives driving ‘nature positive, climate positive, and people positive’ outcomes.
• A new ‘Retailers Commitment for Nature’, organised by WWF, saw five of the UK’s supermarkets committing to reduce their environmental impacts across climate, deforestation and nature.
• 95 UK businesses also backed the new ‘Get Nature Positive’ campaign. A new Nature Handbook for Business showcases how businesses in various sectors can and are becoming more nature positive.
• The Forest Solutions Group of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released the report ‘Forest Sector Net-Zero Roadmap: Enabling the Transition to a Net-Zero Economy’.

Join us for COP week 2: ‘Raising the Roof: Voices for the Amazon’ & Soy Manifesto

Looking ahead into this week, there’s still more to come. Don’t miss the live stream of Global Canopy’s COP event ‘Raising the Roof: Voices for the Amazon’.

Live from the New York Times Climate Hub, this event will showcase the talent and artistry of Brazil and the Amazon. Musicians, filmmakers, Indigenous leaders and artists, climate experts and other leading thinkers will come together to highlight the importance of the Amazon to the planet and the role of Indigenous peoples in its survival and future prosperity.

The full recording of the event is now available. Watch below.

Tomorrow, Tuesday 9, you can watch the launch of the UK Soy Manifesto online, which sets out a clear commitment from UK industry for all shipments of soy to the UK to be deforestation- and conversion-free as soon as possible, but no later than 2025.

We’ll share another round-up and our reflections on what needs to happen beyond COP when the summit comes to a close at the end of this week.

PS. Recordings from our events will be available. Check our COP26 Event Hub for the latest.

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