Is It Time To Put Biodiversity On Your ESG To-Do List?

Sustainability Is It Time To Put Biodiversity On Your ESG To-Do List? Jamie Hailstone Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about air quality and the environment. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories.

Got it! Oct 25, 2022, 03:58am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin MADAGASCAR, AFRICA – JULY 2006: An amazing malagasy giant chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) taking the . . .

[+] pose on a beach in Nosy Ankao island, on July 20, 2006, Madagascar, Mozambique Channel, Africa. Also called Oustalets’s chameleon, Furcifer oustaleti, is a large species of chameleon which is endemic to Madagascar with a maximum total length of 68. 5 cm.

(Photo by Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images) Getty Images When companies normally talk about their ESG plans, they talk about reducing carbon emissions, reducing waste and the circular economy. It almost goes without saying, but these are all worthy goals should be pursued if we are to move to a cleaner and greener future, but what about biodiversity? Are enough businesses thinking about their obligations to protect animal and plant life? Putting biodiversity on your ESG to-do list is not as fanciful as it might sound. Admittedly, biodiversity will vary from one sector to another, but an analysis by the data science firm RepRisk has found 81% of oil and gas pipelines around the world are within 10km of least one environmentally sensitive site.

The same analysis found 52% of Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, which are home to some of the world’s most threatened species, are within 10km of a project to extract oil, gas, coal or other minerals. And approximately 32% of natural and mixed World Heritage sites are currently within 1km. RepRisk’s executive vice president, Alex Mihailescu Cichon told Forbes climate change and biodiversity are “inextricably linked”.

“You can’t really talk about climate change without talking about biodiversity, or the other way around, because climate change can affect the further loss of biodiversity,” she said. “If there’s a wildfire, drought or whatever, the loss of biodiversity further exacerbates global warming. ” MORE FOR YOU Livestream Shopping Stays Hot As Whatnot Valuation More Than Doubles To $3.

7 Billion New Study Points Out Scary Driver Behavior In Supposedly Safer Cars iOS 16. 1—Update Now Warning Issued To All iPhone Users She admitted that the climate change focus for many companies has been on reducing carbon emissions, because it often feels more “tangible” and can be easily measured. But she added that people are now starting to “unpack and understand” the importance of biodiversity, particularly in the light of the recent WWF report , which warned that global wildlife populations have plummeted by 69% on average since 1970.

Mihailescu Cichon said the WWF report as definitely “another warning sign of the slow-moving tragedy of the biodiversity loss that we’re experiencing and its consequences”. “Biodiversity is very location specific,” she added. “You need to know what’s happening if your operation is near a key biodiversity area.

” RepRisk has recently launched a biodiversity risk tool, which identifies the proximity of more than 60,000 mining and oil and gas projects to 270,000 protected areas and 16,000 key biodiversity areas around the world. The tool is an extension of its RepRisk ESG risk platform and is emerging alongside the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)’s progress on a biodiversity risk management and reporting framework, to be adopted by financial institutions and corporates. “The TNFD has made it clear – geospatial data is essential for reporting on corporate biodiversity risk and moving toward a nature-positive economy,” added Mihailescu Cichon,.

“RepRisk geospatial analytics not only brings clients in step with emerging frameworks like TNFD but empowers them with the most cutting-edge technology and the world’s most comprehensive ESG dataset. Nature doesn’t disclose anything, and ultimately biodiversity risk and financial risk are one and the same. It’s time for financial markets to integrate biodiversity risk considerations into their decision-making processes.

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