While we missed the chance to meet and mingle with each other in person this year, it was great to connect with all members at our first virtual members meeting. In case you have any suggestions on how we could improve these meetings, please give us feedback in this short survey.

Below a roundup of key topics covered:

• We kicked off our packed, two hour sessions with updates on CPIC, including the establishment of a Transition Executive Team (TEC). Under the direction of the Steering Committee, the 7 person team will bring additional energy and resources to drive CPIC’s activities over the next few months including the set-up of subcommittees and extension of options for member engagement. The TEC members are: Avril Benchimol (GEF), Elmedina Krilasevic and Frank Hawkins (IUCN), Alan Martinez and John Tobin (Cornell University), Romas Garbaliauskas (Conservation International) and Ned Neaher (White & Case)

• Elmedina Krilasevic (IUCN), member of the TEC, shared updates on the next step of the Conservation Finance Initiative.

• Martin Stadelmann (South Pole), CPIC’s platform coordinator, shared insights on the success of our bi-monthly newsletters in engaging members and triggering broader interest in CPIC’s activities. He also announced the first edition of the CPIC annual conservation finance report, planned for publication in early 2021.

• Avril Benchimol (GEF) moderated a dynamic panel on the natural capital market:
  • Andrew Mitchell (Global Canopy) told us how the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has been gaining momentum, especially with the recent announcement of an Informal Working Group comprising of over 60 members, among them some of the world’s biggest banks, investors and companies, as well as governments and regulatory bodies.
  • Martin Berg (Pollination Group) shared insights on Pollination Group’s collaboration with HSBC around unlocking natural capital investment opportunities at scale
  • Edit Kiss (Mirova Natural Capital) talked about the success of Mirova’s funds and hinted at more to come to start addressing the project pipeline gap for nature-based solutions at scale.
  • Fabian Huwyler (Posaidon Capital) emphasised the increased movement in the market for nature, as well as his work on developing what might be the first conservation retail fund at institutional scale. Both Edit and Fabian welcomed the increasing interest of corporates such as L’Oréal in investing in nature.

• Natalya Skiba (The Nature Conservancy) and Jim Stephenson (Terranomics/Pricewaterhouse Cooper) shared updates on the development and pipeline of CPIC’s investment blueprints.

While we took time to answer questions during our Q&A sessions, we also wanted to hear from all of you. We’d like to thank the CPIC members who helped run our four dynamic breakout sessions and the lively discussions:

1. Advancing Models of Landscape and Seascape Finance led by Sarah Scherr, EcoAgriculture Partners
2. Impact alignment and topics for TA and building investment readiness led by David Wallis, MNC, and Elmedina Krilasevic, IUCN
3. Report discussion: Financing Nature led by John Tobin, Cornell University
4. CPIC: Discussion on ongoing developments and forum for members to share their thoughts and suggestions led by Christina Mallin, South Pole, Romas Garbaliauskas, CI, and Frank Hawkins, IUCN

For more information and in case you missed the meeting, please contact the CPIC secretariat at info@cpicfinance.com.