“A major bid win for Manchester,” said Laura Mason, Head of Business Tourism at Marketing Manchester, as the city opened IPBES‑12 at Manchester Central on Tuesday, 3 February. Close to 1,000 delegates from nearly 150 countries are in town through Sunday. (meetinmanchester.com)

Often dubbed the ‘IPCC for biodiversity’, IPBES is here to finalise a Business & Biodiversity Assessment aimed at giving companies a consistent, science‑based way to understand their impacts and dependencies on nature. The report has been three years in the making, with 80 experts from 35 countries contributing. (gov.uk)

Hosting the summit is expected to deliver a £3.1m shot in the arm for the local economy, reinforcing Manchester’s push to be a leading sustainable conference city. The winning bid was led by Marketing Manchester and Manchester Central with support from the Manchester Accommodation BID. (gov.uk)

At the opening plenary, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds relayed the King’s warning about an “unprecedented triple crisis” of nature loss, climate change and pollution. Reynolds told delegates “the window to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 is narrowing”, arguing that protecting and restoring nature is fundamental to the economy and national security. (gov.uk)

The North isn’t just hosting; it’s on show. Today’s Northern Opportunity Showcase takes senior visitors out to Wigan Greenheart to see natural flood management, up to Smithills Estate in Bolton for woodland creation and peat restoration, and back to Castlefield Viaduct for lunch and a briefing on investable projects. (jncc.gov.uk)

On Wednesday, Aviva and Defra convene a Business and Finance Day in the city to get practical about bringing private capital into nature recovery and embedding it in boardrooms. Discussions are set to cover water risk, valuing nature and scaling credible projects that leave a local legacy. (jncc.defra.gov.uk)

Greater Manchester’s universities are stepping in too. The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford are co‑hosting an evening at the People’s History Museum on Thursday to turn the science into local action and partnerships. (manchester.ac.uk)

Work began yesterday with Stakeholder Day, a forum for scientists, Indigenous representatives and civil society to feed into the week’s talks. Early notes from professional bodies highlight debate on how evidence shapes business behaviour and the value of wider online participation. (cieem.net)

Investor interest is strong. The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation is on site with members including Aviva, Federated Hermes and Storebrand urging governments to align financial flows with the Global Biodiversity Framework. The EU has a formal delegation in Manchester and expects the plenary to adopt the Business & Biodiversity report by 8 February. (financeforbiodiversity.org)

The timetable is tight. Plenary runs until Sunday 8 February, with the summary for policymakers slated for release on Monday 9 February if approved. Expect movement too on future assessments, from biodiversity‑inclusive spatial planning to the next global stocktake of nature. (eurekalert.org)