The Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials was formed in 2019 by founding partners ASN Bank (part of de Volksbank), ACTIAM, FMO, Robeco, Triodos Bank and Triple Jump. Fifteen more financial institutions have now decided to join the partnership. These are ABN AMRO Bank, APG, Achmea Investment Management, a.s.r. vermogensbeheer, BNP Paribas, de Volksbank, Finance in Motion, FirstRand Group, NN Investment Partners, NWB Bank, Piraeus Financial Holdings, Rabobank, Rathbone Greenbank Investments, UFF African Agri Investments and Van Lanschot Kempen. Today, the partnership consists of 21 members and total participant assets under management are $ 6.4 Trillion.
Roel Nozeman, Senior Advisor Biodiversity at ASN Bank and chairman of the partnership, is excited about the new partners joining the platform.
“A growing number of banks and insurance companies realise that loss of biodiversity poses a major threat both to society and to the economy, and that we need action now. Through our loans and investments, we can limit the damage to ecosystems and contribute to the protection and restoration of nature. To do so, we have to adopt a common approach to measuring our impact and using data, as we did before in the climate debate. The Common Ground Report, which PBAF presented last year at a UN biodiversity convention, is an excellent first step. We will join hands with all new partners to continue developing that common approach in dialogue with initiatives such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and in line with EU legislation.”
2021: common metrics
The shared ambition of the PBAF partners is for financial institutions to measure their impact on biodiversity, for them to be transparent about their impact reporting and for them to set targets to improve their ecological footprint. The aim is to present a new report describing the partnersÂ’ common metrics in 2021. To achieve this, the partners will team up in a number of working groups to address relevant issues, such as:
- Biodiversity impact of investments in the agricultural sector.
- Biodiversity impact of and dependencies in equity investments.
- Biodiversity impact of investments in forestry, agroforestry and ecological restoration.
Biodiversity loss
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth and to ecosystems, i.e. the systems that sustain this life, such as forests and oceans. As it stands, the planetÂ’s biodiversity is rapidly declining across the globe. Studies show that 1 million plant and animal species are threatening to become extinct. The world is losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. Many commodities and economic sectors are dependent on the variety of plants, animals and insects in the world, either directly or indirectly. An estimated 50% of global economic value generation is dependent on nature.