Biodiversity Finance Conference
12 May 2025
08:00 -21:00
Open to: Presenting authors, discussants, the scientific committee and invited experts from academia and industry.
The Royal Society
6-9 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AG
About the conference
This research conference is part of a wider Biodiversity and Natural Resource Finance initiative being led by the Review of Finance and the Centre for Endowment Asset Management. A successful research workshop in October 2024 showcased the 10 project proposals that had been successfully selected as part of a research competition. The authors of these projects were invited to present and discuss their proposals.
This May conference offers an opportunity for these researchers to return and present the work they’ve completed since the workshop. The initiative will conclude towards the end of 2025 when the Review of Finance publishes its Special Issue on Biodiversity and Natural Resource Finance. An event to celebrate the launch of the journal’s Special Issue with be announced in due course.
Conference agenda
07:45 – 08:15
Registration and refreshments
08:15 – 08:30
Welcome
08:30 – 09:15
The Pricing of Biodiversity Risk in Commodity Markets
Presentation by:
- Manuela Pedio at University of Bristol Business School
Discussion by:
- Markus Leippold, University of Zurich
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
09:15 – 10:00
Corporate nature risk perceptions
Presentation by:
- Zacharias Sautner at the University of Zurich and Swiss Finance Institute
Discussion by:
- Patrick Bolton
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
10:00 – 10:45
Firm-level nature dependence
Presentation by:
- Alexandre Garel at Audencia Business School
Discussion by:
- Andrew Karolyi, Cornell University, S.C. Johnson College of Business
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
10:45 – 11:15
Refreshment break
11:15 – 12:00
Do investors care about the rainforest? evidence from voluntary carbon offsets around the world
Presentation by:
- Eric Nowak, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Swiss Finance Institute
Discussion by:
- Discussion by Caroline Flammer, Columbia University
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
12:00 – 12:45
Does financing biodiversity reduce biodiversity risk?
Presentation by:
- Andre Poyser, University of Otago
Discussion by:
- Claudio Rizzi, IESE
12:45 – 13:45
Lunch break
13:45 – 14:30
Biodiversity co-benefits in carbon markets? Evidence from voluntary Offset projects
Presentation by:
- Zoey Yiyuan Zhou at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Discussion by:
- Claudia Custodio at Imperial College London
14:30 – 15:15
The real effects of biodiversity risk: location-based evidence
Presentation by:
- Amir Akbari at DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
Discussion by:
- Pat Akey, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
15:15 – 16:00
Biodiversity ventures
Presentation by:
- Sean S. Cao at Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Discussion by:
- Qifei Zhu, National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, National Univesity of Singapore
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
16:00 – 16:30
Refreshment break
16:30 – 17:15
Biodiversity and local asset values
Presentation by:
- Peter Iliev at Smeal College of Business Pennsylvania State University
Discussion by:
- Jacopo Ponticelli, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
17:15 – 18:00
Coastal housing markets and climate resilience: financial value of nature-based solutions
Presentation by:
- Galina Hale at UC Santa Cruz, Economics Department
Discussion by:
- Jawad Addoum, Cornell University, S.C. Johnson College of Business
Followed by 10 minutes Q&A
18:00 – 18:15
Wrap up
18:15 – 19:00
Closing refreshments and pre-dinner drinks
19:00 – 21:00