Join us for an in-depth presentation of the policy paper “Financing Nature: Investment Funds and Biodiversity Risks” by Alexander Raabe. The study explores how the 2021 Kunming Declaration influenced global investment funds to shift away from countries with high biodiversity risks. This reallocation, while signalling growing attention to nature-related risks by fund managers, did not reflect a broader investor preference for low-risk opportunities. 

The findings offer valuable insight into how legal protections for nature can moderate capital flight and how biodiversity is emerging as a critical downside risk in financial markets. The paper also reveals the limitations of general climate and economic policies in buffering countries from biodiversity-driven disinvestment.

Speaker Biography

Alexander leads research at the nexus of international and sustainable finance, and macroeconomics. Recent work centres on mobilising private sector funding for climate and biodiversity action, resilience to geopolitical risks, and on disaster finance, and has been published in leading journals. Alexander advises on regional financial integration, and spearheads the development of machine-learning approaches to forecasting financial crises. Prior to ADB, Alexander worked at the European Stability Mechanism, International Monetary Fund, Bank of England, United Nations and University of Zurich. He holds a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute Geneva, Switzerland.