The backbone of healthy ecosystems is biodiversity, the variety of all living things on the planet. Human activity has a strong negative effect on biodiversity, which has been declining at an alarming rate. Since 1970, populations of mammals, bird, fish, reptiles and amphibians have dropped on average by 68%. Latin America and the Caribbean, with their sensitive tropical regions, have seen an especially rapid decline in biodiversity (around 94%). Much of this loss is caused by habitat destruction due to farming and logging. Climate change poses an additional major threat, causing a self-reinforcing vicious cycle for biodiversity. To help halt the loss of biodiversity, it’s crucial to make decisions with biodiversity in mind.
|
|
|
|
A significant number of species face risk of extinction, which compels the question:
How can we make more informed decisions, taking biodiversity into the equation?
Financial institutions can contribute by assessing the biodiversity impacts and related risks of their portfolios. Businesses too can contribute to this by considering how their activities affect this risk. You cannot change what you don't know. A key requirement is therefor to get access to metrics, vehicles for quantifying impacts on biodiversity, and data, the fuel powering those vehicles, to understand the environmental hotspots of your company and your portfolio. The aim of this Knowledge Hub is to provide transparent information on the topic, shed light on ongoing developments, and guide you in the process of understanding biodiversity footprinting. Collaboration and transparency are our key values, and together we can get further than alone.
How can we make more informed decisions, taking biodiversity into the equation?
Financial institutions can contribute by assessing the biodiversity impacts and related risks of their portfolios. Businesses too can contribute to this by considering how their activities affect this risk. You cannot change what you don't know. A key requirement is therefor to get access to metrics, vehicles for quantifying impacts on biodiversity, and data, the fuel powering those vehicles, to understand the environmental hotspots of your company and your portfolio. The aim of this Knowledge Hub is to provide transparent information on the topic, shed light on ongoing developments, and guide you in the process of understanding biodiversity footprinting. Collaboration and transparency are our key values, and together we can get further than alone.
UnderstandingBiodiversity Footprinting
Learn how you can assess the biodiversity impacts of your products, services, and their supply chain, using transparent and science-based data and methods. This section sheds light on what biodiversity footprinting is, what it does, and what you can do with it.
|
Learning aboutBiodiversity Footprint for Financial Institutions (BFFI)
Learn how you can assess the biodiversity impacts of your financial services and products using the Biodiversity Footprinting for Financials (BFFI) method, which was put in practice for the first time in 2015. In this section you find numerous case studies on the BFFI and its integration with other approaches.
|
Understanding
Metrics and Methods
Understand the field of biodiversity impact assessment, the metrics, the data sources and the methodologies behind. Learn what these various metrics mean, and what role policies play in this. |
Please note: This Biodiversity Knowledge Hub is still under construction. We are working hard on populating the webpage. If you have improvements or feedback, feel free to share that with us!