The inaugural Biodiversity & Ecosystem Finance event took place in New York on March 27th & 28th 2008; the event investigated the concepts surrounding financial instruments aimed at conserving and preserving ecosystem services and delegates at the event came together to discuss methods to change the way the economy values the environment.

The need for patient capital was the key theme across the two days as traditional banks and venture funds normally seek returns within a short time frame but these projects generally require time frames of 5, 10, 20 or many more years to come to fruition.

The event concluded that the majority of companies have trouble seeing the bottom line relationship of Biodiversity. Financiers investing in companies or projects that may have biodiversity or ecosystem impacts and businesses such as oil, gas and mining that have an impact have traditionally focused on the risk elements such as reputational risk from negative publicity but companies now need to start looking at the opportunities that can be derived from Biodiversity & Ecosystem services.