Consultation outcomes on finance sector biodiversity measurement
The Impact Assessment working group received 30 high quality responses to its public consultation on biodiversity issues and approaches. These responses, mainly from asset managers and private banks, provide insights into how the finance sector is dealing with biodiversity measurement.
Download the compiled consultation results
The goal of the consultation was to get a better understanding of where the financial sector stands today when it comes to integrating biodiversity issues into financial decision-making. Read more on the background of the consultation. Thirty individuals participated in the consultation, most of them representing asset managers and private banks based in Europe that are already taking (some) biodiversity actions.
Some key findings include:
- Biodiversity policies or strategies are an emerging development within the financial sector. Even though the respondents are probably the most active financial institutions within the biodiversity domain, the majority of the respondents started to look at biodiversity less than two years ago and most of the financial institutions have not yet trained their staff on the topic.
- The interlinkages between climate change and biodiversity are broadly recognized.
- For most respondents, the biodiversity measurement tools they use are not, or are only partially, sufficient at providing the biodiversity measures or metrics they want to make investment decisions. The two main limitations are scope (i.e., marine biodiversity, invasive species and direct exploitation of species are often not taken into account) and dependence of current biodiversity tools on modelled data and sector averages.
- 81% of FIs that responded think that reported biodiversity data will be available in 2 to 5 years -> regulation and initiatives like SBTN & TNFD are expected to be incentives encouraging issuers to report.
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing are considered the most targeted activities under current biodiversity approaches – with engagement playing an important role – and for banks, policies and client certifications (within value chains) are additional steering instruments.
- Two thirds of respondents consider biodiversity impacts over the full supply chain of corporates and even three quarters when considering a restricted scope over upstream supply chain only.
Building on the consultation outcomes, a subgroup of the Impact Assessment working group is currently developing a guide. This guide focuses on the current state of biodiversity approaches for financial institutions and provides guidance on their alignment with scientific and legislative imperatives as well as a trajectory towards achieving global policy goals. The launch of the guide is expected in May 2022.
Download the compiled consultation results
More information on the consultation