Turning global biodiversity commitments into local action: reflections from COP17

I returned from COP17 held in Yerevan, Armenia, with a lot to reflect on. I couldn’t fit a beautiful handmade Armenian carpet in my luggage, but I did bring home a great deal of new information, insights and inspiration, as well as new connections and a clearer picture of where the global biodiversity agenda is heading.

I had the privilege of participating in COP17 as a member of Finland’s official delegation. For me, this was both an honour and a valuable opportunity to represent Fortum and contribute from an energy sector and business perspective to the international discussion on biodiversity.

During the week, I participated in four panel discussions exploring how businesses can turn biodiversity commitments into action, support nature-positive electrification, create business value through biodiversity and develop comparable, scalable Nordic nature value markets. In addition, I attended several other events, including a reception by the Embassy of Sweden and Business Sweden.

But perhaps the most valuable part of the week was the numerous formal and informal discussions with representatives from governments, businesses, NGOs and other organisations. It was particularly encouraging to see the genuine interest in the Nordics, Fortum and the solutions that Nordic companies can bring to the biodiversity agenda.

A few reflections stood out for me.

Nature is increasingly becoming economic policy, too

One of my strongest takeaways from COP17 is that nature is increasingly understood as an economic issue, not just an environmental one. Progress is clearly being made in recognising this connection. At the same time, there is still much work to be done before biodiversity is fully integrated into business and investment decisions.

Financing is at the heart of the challenge. Global biodiversity ambitions will only become reality if sufficient financing can be mobilised and directed towards actions that deliver measurable improvements for nature.

We need both new finance for nature and changes to incentives and subsidies that encourage activities harmful to biodiversity. Redirecting existing financial flows towards activities that support nature can be just as important as creating new funding mechanisms.

And time matters. Every year spent discussing how ambition should be implemented leaves less time to deliver the commitments we have made, while the pressure on nature continues to grow. Global ambition now increasingly needs to translate into practical action.

Business has a crucial role to play

It was encouraging to see the private sector being actively invited into the COP17 discussion and, importantly, being heard. Governments cannot solve biodiversity loss alone.

Businesses have a crucial role, first by understanding and reducing their own impacts on and dependencies on nature, and also through investment, innovation, technology, practical experience and the ability to scale solutions. This also creates an important discussion about incentives. If we want companies to invest beyond mitigating their own negative impacts and actively contribute to restoring nature, we need credible mechanisms that recognise and incentivise those investments.

Finding the right solutions requires collaboration between governments, businesses, science, the financial sector and civil society. It was great to see businesses increasingly being part of that discussion.

Climate and biodiversity must be addressed together

Another clear message from the discussions was that climate and biodiversity impacts cannot be treated separately. We cannot solve one crisis while ignoring the other.

Climate change is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss, while healthy and resilient ecosystems are essential for both climate mitigation and adaptation. This is particularly relevant for the energy sector.

Electrification is a crucial part of the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Low-carbon electricity can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and support the decarbonisation of industry, transport and society.

At the same time, expanding renewable energy requires land, materials, infrastructure and natural resources. Its expansion therefore needs to be planned and implemented in a way that recognises, avoids, minimises and addresses impacts on nature. This is where companies such as Fortum have both a responsibility and an opportunity. There is also an important value-chain perspective. What we do in our own operations can have an impact across the value chain. By reducing our own impacts, we can also help other companies achieve their climate, biodiversity and sustainability goals.

Can nature credits markets help us move from ambition to action?

One of the topics I found particularly interesting at COP17 was the development ofnature credits and biodiversity markets. These markets could potentially become an important part of the toolbox for mobilising private finance for nature and helping companies contribute to both corporate and international biodiversity goals.

Nature is inherently local. A hectare of biodiversity gains in one location cannot automatically be considered equivalent to a hectare somewhere else. Biodiversity therefore cannot simply be turned into another carbon market. But that should not prevent us from developing mechanisms that channel more private capital towards high-quality nature restoration and conservation.

The challenge is to create markets where participation is clear and attractive for companies and for landowners. Getting this right could open significant opportunities for businesses to contribute beyond their own operational boundaries and help close the global biodiversity financing gap.

From Yerevan back to everyday decisions

COP meetings are of course about international negotiations and global targets. But ultimately their success will be determined by what happens after everyone travels home.

For businesses, that means translating biodiversity commitments into investment decisions, project development, procurement, operational practices and measurable actions. For governments, it means creating frameworks and incentives that encourage those actions. And for all of us, it means recognising that nature is not separate from the economy. Nature underpins it.

I returned from Yerevan encouraged by the discussions and by the growing recognition of the role business can play. I was also pleased to see how much interest there was in the Nordic perspective and Fortum, and in our experiences from the energy transition and corporate biodiversity work. I almost felt like a celebrity after the panel discussions. There is still a long way to go, but the direction is becoming clearer. The next step must be to turn ambition into implementation, financing into measurable nature outcomes, and collaboration into action.

And although that Armenian carpet would have been nice, I think the ideas, contacts and inspiration I brought home will ultimately prove much more valuable.