A group of cross-sector experts from the worlds of business, finance, foundations, NGOs and institutions were brought together by the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to come up with suggestions for solutions on how to encourage the financial markets to become champions of nature.

The event was held in Bellagio, Italy, and a text-based live chat convened by the Guardian Newspaper was held on July 31, 2014. Questions were submitted in advance and during the event via Twitter and online.

 
Some of the questions posed to panelists were: 
  • Why do you think the major banks are not taking the issue of valuing nature seriously and how can they be encouraged to engage more proactively? 
  • How can large institutions practically apply the principles of natural capital valuation? 
  • There are trillions of dollars supporting business as usual and only a trickle of funding going to nature conservation and rehabilitation. How can the flows of finance be shifted to supporting nature?
  • What is the role of regulators and policy initiatives in driving change and what would you like them to do differently?
  • How important is it to raise the cost of capital for those projects that damage natural capital and thereby make green investments more attractive – and can this be achieved?
  • If we look forward five years, what developments would you realistically hope to see in terms of natural capital investments?
 
“We cannot afford to support the pernicious boom and bust that often accompanies the liquidation of natural capital and that too often dumps people back into a more bleak and more grinding poverty than before,” said panelist Valerie Hickey, biodiversity specialist and practice manager of the World Bank's Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice.
 
“We are helping our government counterparts build their capacity to do natural capital accounting through our Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services program (known as WAVES). This will provide them the tools and data to inform their decision making and grow their total wealth. We’re also working to develop a robust indicator of total wealth that takes natural capital into account to help communities and countries stay accountable for inclusive, sustainable development,” Hickey said.