Biodiversity and ESG
Biodiversity has become an important topic in ESG, preceded only to climate change. How to pay attention to nature-related risks and opportunities has become a topic of global concern for various stakeholders.
The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures has developed disclosure guidelines and adopted a disclosure framework consistent with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. COP15 also develops global biodiversity framework, requiring countries to monitor, manage and disclose natural data.
Biodiversity, Nature and Climate
Biodiversity often comes with nature, which is the foundation of socio-economic activities and encompasses all renewable and non-renewable resources worldwide. Biodiversity is an essential component of nature. For example, the EU’s first comprehensive law on biodiversity and nature, the Nature Restoration Law, regulates both biodiversity and ecosystems.
Biodiversity and climate change have a synergistic effect, and they interact with each other. To address climate change, stakeholders need to consider how to ensure that biodiversity can maximize efficiency of climate actions.
Investing in Biodiversity
The UNEP believes that global biodiversity financing gap will exceed $2.7 trillion annually by 2030, and the current global investment scale accounts for less than one tenth, with 80% of the investment coming from public institutions such as governments and multinational banks.
Biodiversity investment tools will help investors assess the risks faced by their investment portfolios and identify specific industries, regions, and assets that are most susceptible. For example, the Nature Investor Toolkit released by Responsible Investment Association Australasia lists common biodiversity investment tools.
TNFD Releases Global Natural Data Report
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) released the Global Natural Data Report
CDP Releases Global Water Report
The international climate change research institute CDP has released a global water report, which analyzes the water resource disclosures of over 3900 companies and analyzes the global water market of over 400 billion US dollars. This report was jointly launched by the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund (Norges Bank Investment Management) and is also a midpoint period since the launch of the Global Water Action Decade in 1977
NBIM Responses to GRI Biodiversity Framework
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) issues a document to comment on the biodiversity framework proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and put forward suggestions for modification
UN Environment Programme Launched Natural Risk Profile
The United Nations Environment Programme and S&P launched the ” Natural Risk Profile “, hoping to provide a basis for the financial industry to measure the natural risk of the portfolio through scientific means. According to the global risk report
COP15 Reached Convention on Biological Diversity
COP15 Conference, the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, is divided into two stages: the first stage was held by China in October 2021, and the second stage was held by Canada