REYL Intesa Sanpaolo (REYL) is strengthening its impact programme by releasing the second edition of its thought leadership publication, FORWARD, which highlights how investment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) has the potential to tackle the biodiversity challenge.

The report (https://www.reyl.com/forward/) seeks to raise the quality of discussion on biodiversity issues and to highlight the potential role of innovative financing solutions. The report presents an overview of the current state of the earth’s natural resources as well as the scale of international commitments agreed during the COP 15 summit. It explores the potential of Nature-based Investment Solutions to address biodiversity issues, including the challenges associated with scaling finance and matching investors with projects. The report concludes by exploring what is next for biodiversity. 

The publication forms a part of REYL Intesa Sanpaolo’s broader impact programme, which has a focus on scaling communication and collaboration with different stakeholders: internally, the Bank supports employees to contribute to local environmental issues while externally, it focuses on partnerships in order to scale impact. 

For example, REYL Intesa Sanpaolo has long supported the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its “Save our Species” programme, which works to protect endangered species and plants. During its existence, the programme has run 160 projects and helped save nearly 500 endangered species. Further to this, the Bank has been an active sponsor of the Building Bridges event which seeks to align finance with sustainability and is a member of Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) and Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG). 

For this second edition of FORWARD, REYL Intesa Sanpaolo spoke to leading industry figures and academics working in the field of biodiversity, including Piet Theron, co-Chair of the IUCN WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group, Romie Goedicke, co-Head of Nature at UNEP FI, Barbara Dubach and Marc Vogt, Board Directors at Innovate 4 Nature, a marketplace connecting investors with nature-based solutions, who have shared their views on potential solutions to the biodiversity crisis in a series of interviews available on the FORWARD platform.   

The conversations with academics that REYL Intesa Sanpaolo has engaged with suggest that there is much to feel positive about when it comes to the future of biodiversity, and still much to be done with targets and funding falling short of what is needed and ongoing discussion around regulation and market practices. Nonetheless, the recognition of the importance of nature and its parlous state is a first important step in the quest to save and preserve the natural world. 

François Reyl, CEO of REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, says: “Humans, like the rest of the biosphere, play an integral role in the interactions between living things. Preserving biodiversity has increasingly been at the forefront of conversations about sustainability and human stewardship of the planet. This report seeks to examine and evaluate the challenges around boosting and protecting biodiversity to mitigate the impact of rapid urbanisation and suggest potential solutions rooted in respect for and understanding of nature.”

Jérôme Koechlin, Head of Communications at REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, adds: “It is essential for States and the private sector to recognise the importance of protecting biodiversity worldwide as a key strategic priority. We hope that this report will bring further attention to the need to do more to protect and invest in endangered species and ecosystems to preserve our common environment and future as humans.”