We are pleased to present the World Biodiversity Forum 2026 Resolution to all WBF2026 participants. The Resolution has been developed on the basis of the Forum’s theme and informed by the abstracts of the sessions, workshops, and presentations. Following review by the Steering Committee, it was finalized by Roger Keller, Cornelia Krug, Owen Petchey, and Gabriela Schaepman-Strub.
The Resolution is now available to all WBF2026 participants. During the conference dinner, participants will be invited to formally endorse the Resolution by acclamation in a celebratory moment.
What are concrete action steps from WBF and its resolution? Participate in the workshop RES1 on Tuesday afternoon, 16:30-18:00 in room Flüela to co-develop action steps for different sectors of society to act as leaders of transformation.
To be approved by acclamation by the participants of the 4th World Biodiversity Forum, 14-18 June 2026. Distributed to participants and interested parties for redistribution
The 4th World Biodiversity Forum WBF2026, held from 14 – 18 June 2026 in Davos, Switzerland, gathered more than 1000 researchers, practitioners, representatives from businesses, governments, Indigenous Peoples, NGOs and philanthropies, artists, and policymakers, under the theme ‘Leading Transformation Together’. Its organization was led by the University of Zurich, Switzerland, supported by a diverse steering committee and numerous partners and sponsors.
The leadership and participants of the World Biodiversity Forum WBF2026
Are deeply concerned that, although the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) has strengthened reporting on the status, protection and restoration of biodiversity, major implementation challenges persist, and express alarm that the drivers of biodiversity loss are being further intensified by attacks on multilateralism and the escalation of armed conflicts.
Affirm that, despite this time of deep interlinked crises, a multitude of opportunities exists for ‘Leading Transformation Together’ to combat biodiversity loss across nations, subnational organizations and sectors, and emphasize that such crises can provide an opportunity to reassess and phase out economic and social models long recognized as unsustainable for societies, the environment and planetary health, and to replace them with more representative governance systems, renewed visions, and actions towards a sustainable future for all.
Reaffirm their commitment to ‘Leading Transformation Together’ and to turning KM-GBF into lived reality, and urging each of us and our institutions to move from commitment to implementation through broad-based action that transforms our societies’ relationship with biodiversity by 2030 and contributes to living in harmony with nature by 2050.
Recommendations to all relevant parties
1. Stand for Biodiversity and Acknowledge Nature’s Contributions
Urging actors across all sectors to acknowledge nature’s contributions to people and economies, as well as the systemic risks posed by biodiversity loss, including impacts on food security, health, climate resilience, and social stability. Further urging and encourage actors to actively listen to and learn from Indigenous Peoples and local communities, whose knowledge systems, values, and stewardship practices are critical to sustaining biodiversity, recognizing that the well-being of humanity depends on nature.
Stressing that leadership for biodiversity requires speaking on behalf of biodiversity where it has no voice and taking responsibility for action at every level, and urging actors to initiate biodiversity‑positive actions wherever they operate, whether through policy reform, investment choices, management practices, or individual behavior, and to openly share lessons learned in order to accelerate collective learning and innovation.
2. Co‑Create Diverse Visions for Biodiverse Futures
Encouraging and urging actors across all sectors to collaborate in developing diverse, inclusive, and forward‑looking visions of biodiverse futures, recognizing and stressing that future biodiversity outcomes are shaped by choices made today.
Recommending that this process should be informed by scientific scenarios and projections, grounded in dialogue among rights‑holders and stakeholders across sectors, and respectful of plural values, cultures, and worldviews, while recognizing differing capacities, historical responsibilities, and the need to prioritize those most affected by environmental and social change.
Stressing that shared visions provide the foundation for transformative pathways that halt biodiversity loss and restore ecosystems while advancing human well‑being, and reaffirming that such visions offer societies opportunities to re-examine and re-balance dominant paradigms and business-as-usual approaches.
3. Lead Transformative Change Toward Desirable Futures
Stressing that achieving transformative change requires reflecting critically on currently dominant paradigms and business-as-usual approaches, particularly in already wealthy societies and sectors, and emphasizing the need to establish new paradigms that demonstrate how valuing nature over short-term financial gain contributes to long-term resilience, equity and sustainability. Reaffirming the need for intergenerational and interspecies justice, and for empowering youth and strengthening the voice of nature at the forefront of transformation.
Stressing that transformation cannot wait for international and regional agreements or national‑level action alone, and emphasizing that leadership by regional and subnational actors, including cities, regions, Indigenous Peoples, businesses, scientists, and civil society, is essential for achieving the global biodiversity goals by 2050, particularly in the context of current geopolitical instability. Urging all actors, especially affluent individuals, corporations, and institutions, to lead by example and co-create equitable, place‑based solutions that protect, restore, and connect ecosystems, recognising that networks across land- and seascapes can function as ecological and social ‘stepping stones’ that support biodiversity across borders and scales.
Emphasizing that governments bear a responsibility to society and the planet to address the interlinked drivers of biodiversity loss, identify common goals and solutions, and strengthen policy coherence and multilateral cooperation across all levels of governance, recognising that the world cannot afford to divert ever greater resources towards polarization and armed conflict.
Renewing the commitment of the community assembled at the WBF to support the accelerated implementation of the KM-GBF, and underline its willingness to support countries in translating National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans into funded, cross-sector, monitored action at national and subnational levels.
Appendix: Trends and High-Priority Topics Covered by the WBF 2026 community
- Narratives and Storytelling: The role of environmental narratives and creative engagement through art is being explored as a vital driver for stimulating public imagination, reconnecting humans and more-than-human nature, developing visions for more desirable futures, and motivating transformative action.
- Justice, Values, and Pluralism: A shift is occurring toward recognizing plurality in the valuing of nature (intrinsic, instrumental, and relational) and integrating environmental justice into conservation planning by including rights of humans and of nature. This includes addressing the justice gap for Indigenous Peoples and local communities and for future generations.
- Nexus Thinking and Systems Approaches: Research is moving away from siloed approaches toward a nexus that examines the interlinkages between biodiversity, climate, food, water, and health. Such a system approach enables dialogue, collaboration, room for all and stronger multilateral science-policy-practice interfaces.
- Implementation of Global Policy Frameworks: A major aim is the operationalization of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). This includes not only the developing of standardized indicators to track progress toward global targets, but also broad cross-sectoral support to countries for monitored action at national and subnational levels.
- Finance, Economics, and Corporate Accountability: There is a significant trend for financial markets to reflect biodiversity risks in company valuations, toward measuring biodiversity footprints and dependencies and for companies to align with new disclosure standards like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD). This includes developing nature-positive investment instruments, biodiversity credits, and debt-for-nature swap networks.
- Transforming Biodiversity Monitoring: Researchers are increasingly utilizing environmental DNA (eDNA), high-resolution remote sensing, crowd-sourced biodiversity information, and Artificial Intelligence to create scalable, automated, and multi-taxon monitoring systems. The development of Digital Twins for ecosystems, such as forests and bird communities, is emerging as a powerful tool for real-time decision-making.
- Co-creation and Living Labs: The use of Living Labs as transdisciplinary platforms, drawing from different knowledge types to co-create (nature-based) solutions that foster biodiversity and benefit human wellbeing, for example is a prominent methodology for bridging gaps between science, and practice and society.