October 28, 2025, Panama City – The Nature Summit opened today in Panama City alongside the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), bringing together ministers, Indigenous leaders, innovators, and financiers driving the world’s emerging nature-based economy. The invitation-only forum is the second installment of the Nature Summit Series, following its debut alongside the UNFCCC earlier this year, and coincides with the historic development of SB8J, a milestone in strengthening Indigenous leadership and representation within the CBD process.
A Global Framework for Unified Action
The Nature Summit Series was created to convene leaders across sectors, across regions, and across the Rio Conventions—bridging the climate, biodiversity, and desertification agendas into one cohesive platform for measurable action. Each edition unites governments, private investors, philanthropists, and civil society partners around scalable solutions that define the future of the nature-based economy.
A Partnership Accelerator for Global Impact
Unlike traditional conferences, the Nature Summit functions as a partnership accelerator, designed to transform dialogue into collaboration. Its mission is to connect innovators with the partners and policymakers capable of scaling their work, creating an ecosystem where ideas evolve into implementation.
That purpose came to life on the first day with the public signing of a Letter of Intent between Panama’s Ministry of Environment (MIAMBIENTE) and One Amazon, founded by Rodrigo Veloso. The agreement establishes a landmark collaboration to expand One Amazon’s Internet of Forests model into Panama’s Darién Gap, one of the most biologically rich yet threatened ecosystems on Earth.
One Amazon redefines how humanity measures and values nature as a means of protecting it, transforming conservation from an act of charity into an engine of shared prosperity. The announcement was elevated by a video message from Ed Russo, Chairman of the Environmental Task Force at the White House, who endorsed One Amazon as a vehicle for scalable impact and congratulated Panama on its innovative partnership.
Panama’s Leadership and the Nature Pledge
At the center of this growing global movement is Minister Juan Carlos Navarro, Panama’s Minister of Environment and President of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean. Under his leadership, Panama launched the Nature Pledge, an ambitious framework uniting the objectives of the Rio Conventions on climate, biodiversity, and desertification into a single, integrated plan of action. The Nature Pledge provides the strategic foundation for Panama’s international partnerships, ensuring that forums like the Nature Summit advance measurable progress and collective impact.
Innovation and Recognition
The program also featured Erai Beckmann, Founding Partner of Peace Through Trade Blockchain, which is pioneering new digital frameworks for transparency and accountability in climate finance. By leveraging blockchain technology to verify environmental outcomes and democratize access to sustainable markets, Peace Through Trade is building a fairer global system for financing nature. The organization’s leadership was recognized earlier this year when it received the 2025 SDG Leader Award for the Private Sector.
Adding a diplomatic dimension to the event, Aram Meymaryan, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia, addressed participants as Head of Delegation for Armenia, the host of CBD COP17 next October. His remarks emphasized the importance of aligning national policy and multilateral collaboration to achieve global biodiversity goals.
A Model for Multilateral Cooperation
Co-hosted by Panama’s Ministry of Environment (MIAMBIENTE) and Global Resilience Partners (GRP), the Nature Summit reflects Panama’s growing influence in shaping how the world approaches environmental progress. By serving as a partnership accelerator, the Summit connects the leaders behind transformative ideas with the institutions and investors capable of scaling them.
As the world looks toward COP30 in Brazil, the first day of the Nature Summit in Panama demonstrated the power of integration—across sectors, across borders, and across conventions. Through partnerships like the MIAMBIENTE–One Amazon collaboration, the Summit is proving that global cooperation can evolve from conversation to collaboration, and from ambition to action.
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