Biodiversity and the financial system #

Mistra, an independent research foundation, has decided to fund two programme proposals within the call for “Biodiversity and the financial system”. Both research programmes intend to stop the loss of and recreate biodiversity through interdisciplinary research, involving partners from industry and the financial sector. #

The two programme proposals to receive funding are the Mistra Biodiversity Finance programme, BIOFIN, with the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University as the main applicant, and Pathways Towards an Efficient Alignment of the Financial System with the Needs of Biodiversity, BIOPATH, with Lund University as the main applicant.#

The proposed Mistra BIOFIN programme aims to increase the financial sector’s ability to contribute to a “nature positive” economy. To do this, the programme will develop methods and indicators to identify business models that protect existing biodiversity, as well as business methods to improve it. Programme Director for Mistra BIOFIN is Garry Peterson, Professor of Environmental Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre .#

The proposed BIOPATH programme and its partners will map, evaluate and co-develop existing and new approaches in which biodiversity is integrated with financial decision-making. The institutional and political consequences of these approaches will be analysed. BIOPATH focuses on changed land use related to agriculture, silviculture and energy. Programme Director for BIOPATH is Susanne Arvidsson, Associate Professor of Accounting and Corporate Finance at Lund University.#

The submitted programme proposals have been evaluated by an international panel of experts.#

"The link between biodiversity and the financial system is a new research area that is absolutely current. The two programme proposals were highly ranked by the panel, they have different approaches and complement each other extremely well." says Anna Jöborn, Mistra’s CEO.#