The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities of our socioeconomic systems globally and exposed the risks that natural capital degradation imposes on human health, our economy, and society. Yet, natural capital, in particular the biodiversity and ecosystem services upon which we depend, is rapidly deteriorating. How to build resilience and sustainability in the recovery phase of this pandemic is becoming an overwhelmingly important topic for policy makers.

In this context, under the overarching theme of “Securing natural capital: Resilience, risk management and COVID-19”, the Forum this year addressed the risks posed by unmitigated biodiversity loss and natural capital depletion for the resilience and sustainability of our economies and societies, and discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic is re-shaping the policy responses to cope with these issues.