Common Ground in biodiversity footprint
methodologies
History of the partnership
▪ Contacts through the EU B@B and initiative on Platform for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF) in the Netherlands
▪ March 2018: launch of the informal working group
▪ Objective: establish a solid basis (common ground) for a biodiversity footprinting methodology for financials in 2018
▪ Relevant for non-financial institutions (and CDC Biodiversité works with about 20 non-FI through the B4B+ Club, with an adapted approach)
Why? The planetary boundaries
Why? The natural resource base & the
SDG’s
Why? The sectors at risk due to biodiversity
loss
Uses of biodiversity footprint assessments
1. CBD targets or national assessment 2. Portfolio / corporate assessment 3. Supply chain comparison
4. Product assessment
5. Project assessment
Uses of biodiversity footprint assessments
Requirements
▪ Transparent & consensual
▪ Understandable
▪ Responsive to changes
▪ Cover the most important pressures on biodiversity
▪ Quantitative link between pressures and impacts
▪ Complementary and compatible with local indicators
▪ Relevance
▪ Rigor
▪ Consistency
Desired characteristics
▪ Focused on biodiversity and not just ecosystem services (common and charismatic species)
▪ Cross-sectoral
▪ Global
▪ Covering the entire value chain
▪ Practicability
Methodological steps and inputs
Step 1 - Impacts in the value chain: scopes
Step 1 - Attribution to a portfolio or a holding
▪ In line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s approach
▪ The attribution of the impacts must be consistent with the accounting choices of the entity assessed in terms of what it controls:
▪ Financial control (>50%)
▪ Operational control
▪ Share of the debt and equity owned (pro rata)
▪ Include scope 1, 2 and 3
▪ Challenge of indirect investment and working capital
Step 4 - Investment policy options
▪ To avoid, reduce and offset impacts:
▪ Additional measures and safeguards are needed
▪ Complementary indicators can provide guidance
▪ For instance, for location-specific characteristics like
“Proximity of HCVA’s/protected areas” or “Presence of endangered or threatened species”:
▪ Company has a Biodiversity Management Plan in place (e.g. area registered as a VCA)
▪ Indicators: field ecological monitoring, Red List- based indicator
Picture: David Behrens
