Jul 31, 2026
The Sustainability Management professorship's team at the World Biodiversity Forum in Davos
Ronja Paleit, Leyla Azizi
This year, Dr. Leyla Azizi and Ronja Paleit from the Chair of Business Administration, esp. Sustainability Management and Environmental Accounting, attended the World Biodiversity Forum (WBF) n Davos for the first time. The fourth edition of the biennial WBF was held this year under the theme “Driving Change Together” and took place from June 14 to 19, 2026, in Davos, Switzerland.
The goal of the WBF is to provide a platform for biodiversity where researchers from all disciplines of biodiversity research, practitioners, and societal stakeholders can jointly discuss opportunities and solutions to promote biodiversity in a fair and balanced manner.
On Tuesday, June 16, Leyla Azizi, together with Dr. Frederik Dahlmann Warwick Business School), chaired the session “Bridging Nature, Humans, and Capital for Biodiversity-Positive Outcomes,” which featured many exciting presentations on financial instruments in the field of biodiversity financing. As part of this session, Ronja Paleit presented the work of Laura Hoffmann (currently on maternity leave) titled “Assessing Market-based Mechanisms for Biodiversity Conservation: A Comparative Analysis of Biodiversity Credit Schemes.”
The following day, Leyla Azizi and Ronja Paleit, together with Sophie Klein (Utrecht University), moderated the session on “Biodiversity Finance: Integrating Ecological Value into Financial Decision-Making,” which sparked a lively discussion on the financing of biodiversity conservation and its integration into financial decision-making. Even beyond the sessions, the conference offered an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas on scientific issues – in the workshops, during the cultural activities in the breaks, or at the evening event.
We would like to thank the organizers of this year’s WBF for putting together the program highlights and for their outstanding hospitality. Inspired not only by Becky Chaplin-Kramer's opening address on “The Life Sciences in Transition: From Assessing Loss to Promoting Recovery” but also by the impressive Alpine panorama, we are already looking forward to the WBF 2028.