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Video | September 22, 2026
Bruno DAVID : The biodiversity emergency requires businesses to act
Former President of the French National Museum of Natural History and a marine biologist, Bruno David delivers a clear and uncompromising message: in the face of the biodiversity crisis, scientific warnings alone are no longer enough. He explains why businesses, and responsible investors in particular, have a unique capacity to drive change, and how this conviction led him to join SWEN Capital Partners’ Mission Committee.
A place where humans can coexist with the rest of the living world : That is how Bruno David, former President of the French National Museum of Natural History and former CNRS marine biologist, describes the ideal we should strive for: a society capable of living in harmony with the rest of the natural world
Understanding a world we cannot see
For Bruno David, our relationship with the ocean begins with a simple realization: contrary to popular belief, water is not transparent. Beyond a certain depth, sunlight can no longer penetrate, leaving much of the ocean, whose average depth is around 3,700 meters, hidden from view. Since this limitation cannot be overcome, the only path forward is curiosity: learning about and understanding the organisms that inhabit these depths, so that we can become familiar with a world that may seem strange to us but is perfectly ordinary to those that live there.
Preserving ecosystems as a whole
Taking biodiversity seriously, he argues, is not about saving individual species in isolation, but about preserving the functioning of entire ecosystems. While an “umbrella species” can serve as a catalyst for protecting a broader habitat, it is this systemic perspective that must guide action. Bruno David emphasizes that many solutions already exist, including nature-based solutions, and that certain cities and regions, such as Singapore, have successfully reconnected with biodiversity. The challenge, therefore, is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of implementation.
Convincing those with the power to act
According to Bruno David, scientists can raise awareness and provide evidence, but that alone is not enough. The real challenge is persuading political decision-makers and, above all, businesses, which often have the resources and agility to act more quickly than public authorities. Responsible investors have a particularly important role to play. They continue to pursue their core business while voluntarily committing themselves to additional rules and constraints. It is this conviction, and the approach he considers remarkable, that led him to join the Mission Committee of SWEN Capital Partners.
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