This session will cover our fundamental dependence on the Earth system, underscoring the need to protect ecosystem services, which are non-substitutable and crucial for human survival. Failure to maintain "Planetary Solvency" poses significant risks, including food and water shortages, loss of resilience, zoonotic diseases, and severe health impacts, potentially leading to catastrophic or extreme outcomes.

We will explore the knowledge gap in financial services and financial risk models, which typically ignore systems thinking and ecological literacy, thus fundamentally underestimating cascading, compounding risks. 

The session will additionally cover how the financial system is impacted by nature-related risks, as highlighted in Green Scorpion and why integrating nature and climate scenarios into systemic risk assessments is essential for realistic risk assessment. 

Chair: Sandy Trust, Baillie Gifford

Speakers: 

Nick Spencer, Milliman
Dr Nicola Ranger, Director Resilient Planet Finance Lab, Senior Research Fellow, Global Finance and Economy Programme