Biodiversity in focus as tools unveiled by NatureAlpha and WWF

Two biodiversity tools have been brought to market assisting companies and investors in better understand businesses’ impact on nature.

For asset owners and managers, NatureAlpha has launched the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) to its platform providing biodiversity and nature metrics to help them understand portfolio-related risks.

IBAT was formed by NatureAlpha’s collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), BirdLife International and Conservation International. They have worked together to create three key biodiversity datasets can be applied globally.

Commenting on the collaboration, Vian Sharif, founder of NatureAlpha and ESG Clarity EU Committee member, said: “COP15 provided a much-needed tailwind for biodiversity and nature in 2023 and beyond. With more than half of global GDP depending on ecosystem services and nature markets trading almost $10trn worth of goods and services each year, nature and biodiversity data are swiftly becoming a necessity when determining the impact of financial investment decisions. IBAT provides truly market-leading information and through its combination with NatureAlpha’s platform will enable investors to manage and address portfolio risks related to biodiversity.”

Metrics generated from IBAT will also help users report in line with the Taskforce for Nature-related Disclosures (TNFD) framework. TNFD is not yet mandated but these discussions are underway, TNFD executive director Tony Goldner told ESG Clarity in a COP27 interview.

Meanwhile at Davos, WWF has launched the Biodiversity Risk Filter for companies to identify and reduce their biodiversity-related risk.

It will help them assess risks across their own operations as well as their value chains and investments.

It uses 50 data sets from NASA, the IUCN, the World Bank and other sources, to break down complex biodiversity information. This will help, the WWF said, the private sector develop sustainable business operations and investments, while supporting the alignment of companies’ and financial institutions’ sustainability commitments and engagement with global frameworks including the TNFD, Science-Based Targets Network and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Rebekah Church, WWF’s global biodiversity stewardship lead, said: “Increasingly, companies and financial institutions recognise the business case for tackling biodiversity loss, but many simply do not know where to start. Understanding biodiversity-related business risks is the first step towards being able to tackle them and a prerequisite to setting relevant biodiversity targets, something many companies are likely to look at during this year following the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework. This tool helps them to map and assess biodiversity-related risks, enabling them to prioritise investments in areas that will make the most impact in mitigating their risks.”

The tool is free to access here alongside WWF’s Water Risk Filter.