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 Geopolitical ructions over a new global fund proposed for nature conservation have stymied an agreement at the UN global biodiversity summit in Montreal but the COP15 event has attracted a new cohort: investors. Unlike its more mature cousin, the UN COP27 climate summit held in Egypt last month, the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity has not typically attracted fund managers and business leaders. But the rising capital value of the natural world as climate change forces action across government and industry, as well as an increasing understanding of the rising risks to their companies from a decline in natural resources, have brought a broader audience to the gathering in Canada. Adam Kanzer, head of stewardship for BNP Paribas Asset Management in the US, said the strong level of interest from investors was “new”. “Very few investors, very few companies” were previously talking about biodiversity, he said. “It’s difficult to talk about the significance of this issue without sounding like a crazy person, like the guy on the street holding up a sign saying the end of the world is nigh — and you tend to tune those people out. But the data is really terrifying.”   Several investors said it was their first time attending a biodiversity COP. “I think that holds true for the vast majority of investors I’ve met here,” said Peter van der Werf, of Dutch asset manager Robeco, speaking from Montreal, where the summit was moved from China because of Covid-19. The World Economic Forum estimated in a 2020 report that more than half of global GDP, or about $44tn, was “moderately or highly dependent on nature”. Construction, agriculture and food and drinks are the sectors most dependent on nature, the WEF report highlighted.