Assessment of biodiversity measurement approaches for business and financial institutions

Business increasingly aware of risks of biodiversity loss

The worldwide decline of biodiversity loss requires action from all players in society, including non-state actors. Due to growing awareness in business and finance institutions of the risks of biodiversity loss, measurement of biodiversity performance is rapidly gaining attention in the private sector. Several initiatives for promoting the role of businesses and investors in halting the loss of biodiversity and even in restoration are developing. At the same time, there is a growing demand for more transparency on business performance with regard to biodiversity. This is driven by regulation and by increased interest from banks and investors in the non-financial performance of companies they lend and invest their money in. In turn, standardisation of reporting and disclosure is asked for. These are welcome and necessary developments to be able to track progress on new biodiversity targets, that will be negotiated later in 2020 in Kunming, China.

Biodiversity accounting requires better methods

In the light of these developments, it is essential that companies have access to credible biodiversity measurement methods and metrics. Given the many different biodiversity measurement approaches and metrics presently available, the EU Business & Biodiversity Platform commissioned a systematic assessment of these approaches. This report is the product of a series of workshops organized around this subject. PBL has contributed by providing updated information on the biodiversity indicator developed for application in the global GLOBIO model. Several of the presently available business tools use the GLOBIO knowledge base as a starting point.
One of the key findings of the expert meetings and workshops is that different types of business applications and different organisational focus areas require different approaches.
This report is structured according to the following 4 themes: selecting a suitable biodiversity measurement approach; assessment boundaries and baselines; availability of data and metrics; use for disclosure and reporting.