Consultation on biodiversity issues and approaches – Extended deadline
The Impact Assessment Working Group of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation is holding a consultation on their working document about biodiversity issues and approaches. Any input from financial institutions, corporates, accountants, NGOs, governments, regulators, or other relevant stakeholders is welcome. Extended deadline: 21 December 2021.
The goal of the consultation is to get a better understanding of biodiversity issues and available approaches in order to allow financial institutions to integrate the knowledge into their financial decisions and tackle the biodiversity crisis effectively. The feedback will be used in a guide on the current state of biodiversity approaches for financial institutions.
Who created this consultation?
The working document and the consultation survey were developed by members of the Impact Assessment working group with special guidance from Hadrien Gaudin of Mirova, Petra Mannessen of Rabobank, Alexis Gouin of Federal Finance Gestion and chaired by Liudmila Strakodonskaya of AXA IM.
The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation hosts three working groups for member financial institutions. Impact Assessment is one of them. The other working groups focus on engagement with companies and public policy advocacy.
Why create this guide on biodiversity approaches?
Liudmila Strakodonskaya, ESG analyst at AXA IM and chair of the Impact Assessment Working Group of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation explains the importance of a guide on biodiversity approaches:
“A growing number of financial institutions are looking to align their goals and actions to ensure that their contribution to biodiversity loss mitigation is relevant and effective. This is the role of the FfB Foundation, where more than 75 financial institutions, representing over €12 trillion AUM in total, unite their efforts under the FfB Pledge. However, to scale up our actions on biodiversity, we need clear pathways, shared knowledge and tools, and joint efforts to reach common goals. The scientific conclusions are clear: we must act to reverse biodiversity loss and be clear on how to do it – this is the purpose of the Guide we are developing with the FfB Foundation.”
What is the working document about?
The working document gives context to several challenges, such as the exploration of data solutions, the alignment with science-based evidence, the examination of regulation and global policy objectives, as well as the technical constraints financial institutions face today.
Consultation survey
The working group members created a survey for the consultation which can be downloaded here. It is structured by the following elements:
- Summary: Personal information and input for the planned guide,
- Chapter 1 – Importance of biodiversity for financial institutions: biodiversity practices and policies,
- Chapter 2 – Link between scientific evidence on biodiversity and developing market practices,
- Chapter 3 – Biodiversity metrics and measurement tools,
- Chapter 4 – Biodiversity data, targets, and evolving regulatory landscape.
“We invite all financial institutions as well as corporates developing biodiversity approaches, biodiversity experts, consultants and NGOs, regulators, and all other relevant stakeholders to share their views, experiences and opinions. We would greatly appreciate their contribution, which will support the development of the Guide”, says Strakodonskaya.
More information
Download the working document and survey questions
Provide your feedback through the survey here
For more information or questions, please contact us via info@financeforbiodiversity.org