When arriving at the venue, please pick up your registration materials and check in to attend the event. Please bring your registration confirmation letter/ticket with you (printed or on your mobile device) along with your passport or photo ID to show the registration staff at the desk.
Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, morning enthusiast or grumpy-till-your-coffee, kickstart your day with creativity, dreams, hopes and connections to last a lifetime. This hour-long meetup is your chance to network with fellow biodiversity nerds, practitioners and scientists, who will join ideas, thoughts and experiences to build a mural for biocultural diversity.
Not sure how to network? Fear not – this meeting will be facilitated, and everyone will have the opportunity to connect with each other.
From the Philippines to Brazil, Peru to Bolivia, India to El Salvador the GLF Restoration Stewards and GLFx Chapters are igniting movements of hope and action. These inspiring stories show that true transformation begins within communities, where collective efforts are reshaping landscapes and restoring ecosystems. Join us in exploring how communities are leading the way in restoring our planet, one landscape at a time.
Get ready for an unforgettable moment as 27 passionate performers bring nature’s story to life! Inspired by the themes of COP16, this vibrant play uses stunning choreography to capture the beauty, fragility, and magic of our natural world. Through powerful movements, they remind us of the urgent need to protect both wildlife and ecosystems, and of the deep connection between humans and the planet. Prepare to be moved as we celebrate the delicate harmony that sustains life on Earth, and inspire action toward its conservation!
The first plenary will set the stage for the 7th GLF Investment Case Symposium by addressing the critical challenge of mobilizing $200 billion annually to support the Global Biodiversity Framework. High-level panelists from various sectors will discuss the financial hurdles and innovative solutions needed to meet this ambitious goal.
The conversation will explore how different stakeholders can contribute to this effort, with particular attention to ensuring that funding reaches local communities and Indigenous Peoples, who are often on the frontlines of biodiversity conservation.
This plenary will dive into the profound ways AI is reshaping nature finance and sustainable finance across Latin America, examining both its exciting potential and its challenges. Experts will share insights into AI-powered solutions and their role in shaping the future of sustainable finance in the region.
We will explore how AI and fintech are expanding financial access, driving green financing and transforming the measurement of carbon footprints, while also addressing risks like market volatility and governance gaps. This session will provide a balanced view of the positive and negative consequences for financial professionals, startups and policymakers alike.
Six young ecological restoration professionals from Latin America meet for the first time in Colombia, united by their shared passion for nature. Over five days, they immerse themselves in mountain communities, learning from local conservation initiatives while sharing insights from their own experiences. They explore how landscape restoration can flourish despite challenges tied to land rights, gender and livelihoods across the region.
From El Salvador to Argentina, these young experts and the Colombian communities they visit offer a unique perspective on the intricate relationship between nature and people in Latin America.
The documentary is available in Spanish with English subtitles.
The private sector is often presented as a great opportunity for nature conservation as their financial resources often far exceed those of governments and philanthropy.
In this session, we will discuss how investment blueprints for conservation can help cover the current biodiversity funding gap, highlighting mechanisms to unlock and diversify other capital flows for biodiversity and environmental assets, and consequently ensuring a sustainable flow of ecosystem services for the future.
The discussion will also introduce three concrete examples from Brazil: a forest restoration business (Belterra), a sociobiodiversity sustainable chain (Tobasa) and a community cooperative for timber forest management (Coomflona). We aim to demonstrate how investors can address these crises by allocating investments to businesses that generate financial returns while also producing significant positive socio-environmental impacts.
What if the economy wasn’t about endless extractivism and growth – but about ensuring human wellbeing and ecological balance? This workshop invites you to redefine what’s possible and to challenge traditional economic paradigms and envision systems that prioritize human rights, community wellbeing and ecological integrity. Join us to explore the power of imagination in shaping the future, from local communities to the global stage, and explore how we can shift towards economies that nourish both people and the planet.
This session is by RSVP only. If you are interested in joining, please complete this form by Sunday, 20 October. If you have any questions or doubts, please write to Eirini at e.sakellari@cifor-icraf.org.
Esta conversación se centrará en el potencial de los fondos territoriales para apoyar a las mujeres indígenas y de las comunidades locales en paisajes ricos en biodiversidad. Las ponentes compartirán su experiencia sobre los retos prácticos que plantea la creación y gestión de fondos territoriales para garantizar que satisfacen eficazmente las necesidades de las iniciativas dirigidas por mujeres. El debate también destacará los obstáculos a los que se enfrentan las mujeres a la hora de proteger sus derechos y explorará cómo los fondos territoriales pueden ayudar a superar estos retos. Las mujeres en puestos de liderazgo son cruciales para cambiar la dinámica de poder. Al situar a las mujeres en el centro de la toma de decisiones -asignando subvenciones y dirigiendo recursos- los fondos territoriales pueden aprovechar la fuerza de unas relaciones sólidas e impulsadas por la comunidad para crear un impacto duradero.
Funding with purpose: Territorial Funds as a Pathway to Enable Women-led Initiatives
This conversation will focus on the potential of territorial funds to support Indigenous and local women in biodiversity-rich landscapes. Panelists will share their expertise on the practical challenges of establishing and managing territorial funds to ensure they effectively meet the needs of women-led initiatives. The discussion will also highlight the barriers women face in protecting their rights and explore how territorial funds can help overcome these challenges.
Women in leadership roles are crucial to shifting power dynamics. By placing women at the center of decision making – allocating grants and directing resources – territorial funds can leverage the strength of strong, community-driven relationships to create lasting impact.
Science is a key ingredient in ensuring the implementation of Target 19 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), specifically with evidence-based quality investments in nature-based solutions (NbS). While the relationship between science and business has been evolving, there is still a need to improve dialogue between the two fields to create synergies with substantive impact.
To address this challenge, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and CIFOR-ICRAF launched Resilient Landscapes Luxembourg (RLL) with a mission to accelerate and scale up investments in sustainable landscapes for climate action. Leveraging CIFOR-ICRAF’s science and expertise in forestry, agroforestry and biological diversity, RLL focuses on NbS project incubation for environmental resilience.
The side event will emphasize the vital roles of science and biodiversity in accelerating investments in NbS as well as the unique aspects of RLL. This will be done by presenting investment opportunities from RLL’s first incubation cycle, highlighting the core environmental and social benefits of the different NbS projects, hence sparking an appetite for adoption and replication.
The session aims to engage private and public sector participants in conversations around the need to catalyze private investment into high-quality projects with significant biodiversity and climate co-benefits.
This session will explore how innovative models in a collaborative economy can be leveraged to finance and protect biodiversity. Through the example of Proyecto Land, a proptech initiative from Chile, we will showcase how fractional ownership of vacation properties can fund the conservation and regeneration of ecosystems. The session will present the challenges and successes of applying this model to create a network of protected areas, with the goal of scaling across Latin America.
Attendees will be invited to rethink how real estate and nature conservation can be combined for impactful environmental outcomes.
Enjoy a delicious lunch break! At the registration desk, you’ll receive a lunch voucher redeemable for a delicious lunch pack, including a sandwich, snack, and drink. Simply present your event attendance badge to claim your voucher. Take a break, enjoy your meal, and connect with other attendees.
Experience the vibrant sounds of Colombia’s Pacific coast as this talented band brings their infectious energy to the stage during lunch! With rhythmic beats, soulful melodies, and rich musical traditions from the Pacific region, they’ll transport you to a world where music and culture come together in celebration. Get ready for an hour of captivating rhythms and uplifting vibes that will energize your spirit and leave you feeling connected to the heart of Colombia!
Join us to hear from the executive director of The Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), the GLF’s newest Charter Member, on the importance of valuing nature as a service and how this can drive investment in its protection.
Illicit drug crop cultivation usually takes place in fragile ecosystems and often encroaches into protected areas, resulting in deforestation and biodiversity loss. The forced eradication of drug crop cultivation can further damage surrounding ecosystems, contribute to population displacement and hence increase pressures on landscapes elsewhere. Nevertheless, the environmentally harmful cultivation of drug crops often is the only source of income for vulnerable communities.
The session will highlight how investments in “alternative development” can help local communities overcome dependency on illicit livelihood activities whilst simultaneously contributing to biodiversity conservation and reversal of environmental degradation. It underpins how the “alternative development” approach can contribute to global biodiversity and climate change targets.
In this session, we explore the potential of insurance solutions to close biodiversity financing gaps by providing financial security to ecosystems such as natural reserves, coral reefs and other critical habitats. Governments and conservation organizations often face high recovery costs after natural disasters and are under constant pressure to invest in ecosystem restoration. Insurance mechanisms can offer innovative ways to transfer risks, reduce financial burdens and create sustainable financing strategies for biodiversity.
By highlighting real-world examples, we will demonstrate how nature-based insurance products – often backed by governments and international organizations – are becoming essential tools for preserving ecosystems. The session aims to foster an understanding of how these insurance solutions can not only protect biodiversity but also build resilience against the impacts of climate change.
Local NGOs have been crucial to the development of impact projects for biodiversity conservation and climate action. However, they have also faced challenges in resource management, such as: the continuity of processes, financing for more than 5 years, and support for holistic interventions addressing biodiversity, climate change and poverty, in competition with other organizations.
These factors have led us to implement strategies such as:
i) expanding our financing portfolio,
ii) involving different industries,
iii) the management of national funds, and
iv) proposing public-private coalitions with the academic and business sectors.
This session will explore the experiences of local NGOs in biodiversity conservation, highlighting both challenges and opportunities.
This session will explore how innovative models in a collaborative economy can be leveraged to finance and protect biodiversity. Through the example of Proyecto Land, a proptech initiative from Chile, we will showcase how fractional ownership of vacation properties can fund the conservation and regeneration of ecosystems.
The session will present the challenges and successes of applying this model to create a network of protected areas, with the goal of scaling across Latin America. Attendees will be invited to rethink how real estate and nature conservation can be combined for impactful environmental outcomes.
Join our presentation on innovative risk financing solutions designed to leverage investments towards biodiverse agricultural practices in the coffee, cocoa and banana value chains in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic – a key focus for sustainable finance and public policy experts.
How can we translate the Global Biodiversity Framework into practical action? Born more than 30 years ago, the Model Forest approach is a broad participatory process where multiple stakeholders, land managers, and natural resource users join forces in landscape partnerships and work together toward a shared vision for their landscape.
Through this integrated management approach, people on the ground across more than 60 Model Forests in more than 30 countries agree on and generate comprehensive plans that truly reflect the main actions and priorities needed to advance sustainable and resilient landscapes. From the bottom up, they present us with the most coherent pathways to biodiversity conservation and funding.
The CGIAR science program on multifunctional landscapes integrates the three Rio Conventions with climate action, biodiversity and ecosystem gains and land degradation neutrality from source to sea.
This session will show how thriving multifunctional landscapes are critical to deliver on the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
Three speakers will elaborate on how to bridge current financing gaps to support multifunctional landscape research to effectively implement the GBF. We will wrap up the session with the perspectives of farmer organizations, youth and Indigenous Peoples, with a particular focus on balancing access to finance for actions for resource-constrained actors and communities.
Discover how the bold ideas and actions of young leaders are transforming our planet. This session highlights the power of investing in youth—from spearheading restoration projects that heal ecosystems, to launching green startups that challenge the status quo, to exploring new horizons for environmental research, to pushing for policies that shape a just future for all life on Earth. Join us for an engaging exploration of how youth leadership is redefining what’s possible, and learn how you can be part of this transformative movement!
This session will share innovative finance and investment instruments designed to increase financial resources for the conservation of primary forests and biodiversity-oriented initiatives in Mexico. Host GGGI will share its experience in sustainable finance and generating social and nature-positive impact in the country.
Join us for a talk exploring the urgent global challenge of biodiversity loss and its significant impacts on ecosystems, human well-being and the economy.
Focusing on Italy’s rich yet vulnerable biodiversity, this session will highlight the crucial role of public-private partnerships in achieving nature-positive outcomes. Discover how collaboration can align private sector actions with public conservation priorities, such as Nature Restoration Law targets and corporate requirements. Through case studies and discussions, we’ll demonstrate how partnerships can enhance impact, avoid greenwashing and contribute to the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Biodiversity has been a mere consequence rather than the main objective when it comes to investment projects. However, the global environmental crisis requires us to find ways and mechanisms that allow us to clearly see biodiversity as what it really is: the origin of life on the planet and our main investment objective.
As global demand for sustainable agricultural and forestry practices intensifies, there is a growing need to integrate biodiversity into green commodity value chains. This session will delve into country experiences and touch on advancements that enable more accurate measurement of biodiversity impacts and support the restoration of critical ecosystems.
Featuring voices from countries and experts working at the landscape level, this session will explore innovative financial mechanisms that incentivize and sustain these efforts, including the growing potential of biodiversity credits. Participants will gain insights into how these developments are shaping the future of green commodities and learn more about tools and strategies that can be applied to enhance biodiversity outcomes within value chains. Experts from across the sector will share research and practical case studies from country projects and discuss how to overcome challenges in implementing these methodologies for restoration on a global scale.
This session will give a quick overview of the current state of biodiversity credits. It will share the most recent market developments and key market players together with some crucial opportunities and challenges that the market is facing. The goal of this session is to help attendees understand where the market is now and where it might be going.
The session will introduce the Ecosystem Condition (EC) Protocol, a recent initiative aiming at providing guidelines to non-financial corporates to measure and account for their impacts on ecosystem condition. It will provide key guidance to help corporates report against disclosure and target-setting frameworks and standards such as GRI 101, the TNFD, the SBTN or the ESRS E4. The session will cover the EC Protocol’s objectives, its position in the broader landscape and questions it would answer. This initiative aims to ensure the use of robust approaches and the emergence of a level playing field for companies to confidently disclose their impacts.
In this session, Ecosystem Regeneration Associates (ERA) will unveil the first biodiversity credits using the Biodiversity Crediting Protocol for Umbrella Species Stewardship in partnership with Instituto Homem Pantaneiro, Regen Network and Okala. Join us to learn about the project’s methodology, monitoring platform and the project activities that were carried out to steward 50,000 hectares of jaguar habitat.
Since 2019, the Forestry and Climate Change Fund (FCCF) has provided equity and finance to companies in Central America and Mexico dedicated to the sustainable management of secondary and degraded forests and adding value to wood. FCCF introduces a series of silvicultural and forest management practices that result in forest growth and increased wood quality, but these practices incur costs that must be financed according to their long-term results.
This session will explore financing options for these practices and ways to increase the competitiveness and quality of wood from secondary and degraded forests.
In this session, founders and members of local organizations will talk about how their work contributes to restoration and biodiversity conservation and the challenges they face in their work, especially in finding financial support for their projects. Local project leaders from Colombia, Argentina, Kenya and Peru will share insights and recommendations for both local leaders who want to act in their landscapes and potential investors and donors interested in directly supporting biodiversity conservation.
In 2022, the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs initiated a regional strategy for Central America aimed at promoting socioeconomic integration, climate resilience and environmental sustainability. LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Agency, is implementing a EUR 7.5 million project to enhance forest value chains and rehabilitate degraded forests.
The project focuses on three key areas:
Technical assistance to the Forestry and Climate Change Fund to reduce deforestation.
Support for wood and non-wood product value chains to strengthen economic viability.
Strengthening social inclusion to promote sustainable development in Costa Rica, particularly for women and youth.
The presentation will address challenges encountered within the existing legal framework on forests and explore potential interventions, including in Costa Rica’s mangrove ecosystems.
Mangroves offer a promising and innovative solution to addressing the biodiversity funding gap. These coastal ecosystems provide a wide range of ecological, social and economic benefits that make them critical for conservation and climate adaptation. Mangroves are highly efficient at capturing and storing carbon dioxide, often referred to as ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems, and they support biodiversity by acting as nurseries for many marine species, protecting shorelines and enhancing fish stocks that local communities depend on.
This session will discuss how funding for mangrove conservation can simultaneously support biodiversity goals and sustainable livelihoods by offering a cost-effective way to meet multiple environmental goals.
In this Dragons’ Den session, two innovative biodiversity projects will pitch their ideas to a panel of expert investors. These projects highlight real opportunities to mobilize funds to support biodiversity conservation and sustainable practices. Investors will provide feedback on the potential of each project, showcasing tangible solutions to close the biodiversity finance gap in an engaging and dynamic format.
As the symposium draws to a close, the final plenary will focus on the need for a clear and actionable roadmap to achieve the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework. This session will bring together experts to debate the critical priorities and the most effective solutions that should be included in this roadmap.
Speakers will highlight the roles of various stakeholders, from financial institutions to policymakers, in driving the implementation of the roadmap. Special attention will be given to ensuring that local communities and Indigenous Peoples are not left behind in the push for biodiversity financing.
Join us for the Closing Reception of the 7th GLF Investment Case Symposium. Network with colleagues from a variety of organizations and backgrounds, enjoy refreshments and celebrate the day with music and dancing.
Feel the pulse of Cali’s streets come alive in this electrifying salsa performance! Proud to represent the city where salsa runs deep, this dynamic group will captivate you with their breathtaking moves and undeniable passion. Each spin, step, and sway showcases the essence of caleño culture, where salsa isn’t just a dance—it’s a way of life.
Whether you’re a fan or new to the scene, this show promises to sweep you up in the vibrant energy that defines Cali. Get ready to move your feet and feel the heat of Colombia’s salsa capital!
