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The new framework will allow firms to better integrate biodiversity data into investments.
byMARGARYTA KIRAKOSIANPosted 19 MAY, 2021
BNP Paribas AM has partnered with non-profit firm CDP to develop a global corporate biodiversity reporting framework.
The guidelines will allow the integration of biodiversity data into investment, business and policy decision making globally.
The firms said the new reporting standard will encourage corporate behavioural change by favouring companies that are managing natural resources sustainably and reducing threats to species and ecosystems.
The firms said global biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in history, with 27% of all assessed species threatened with extinction. This highlights the need to integrate biodiversity considerations into decision making across all sectors.
The partnership addresses one of the key findings in BNP Paribas’ research paper, Sustainable By Nature: Our Biodiversity Roadmap, that the lack of biodiversity corporate disclosure is a fundamental roadblock for the investment community.
The asset manager plans to embed biodiversity considerations into all of its activities and analyse risks to key water and forests, as well as opportunities at the company, sector and fund level. This will allow the firm to measure and disclose the environmental footprint of its investments.
Robert-Alexandre Poujade, ESG analyst at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said the asset management industry is in urgent need of better data on biodiversity and how it is impacted by capital allocation.
‘There is unprecedented interest from financial institutions and companies to better understand how they can make biodiversity-conscious investment decisions based on reliable data and thus reward companies that are managing natural resources sustainably,’ he added.
Cate Lamb, global director of water security at CDP, added: ‘This partnership allows CDP to build on our decade-long work on water and forests, enhance the quality and quantity of environmental data created and made available to the market, and accelerate positive corporate impact on biodiversity on an industrial scale.’