FfB publishes guide on biodiversity 

October 19th, 2023

The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation (FfB) has released recommendations for financial institutions on managing biodiversity and the climate nexus, the interaction between biodiversity and climate change.

The Unlocking the biodiversity-climate nexus report highlights five ways that institutions can incorporate biodiversity into their climate policies and warns corporations against treating climate and biodiversity separately.

The report recommends companies integrate biodiversity into their climate targets, policy and reporting, and finance synergy-generating solutions for the biodiversity and climate nexus and those minimising trade-offs.

It also encourages companies to identify and prioritise sectors with a high impact on biodiversity and climate and engage with companies on important nexus topics by leveraging relevant and existing frameworks.

The guidelines suggest companies also set up sector policies, taking into account synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and climate.

The report said: “While both climate and biodiversity actions are essential, they cannot be treated separately. Nature and climate are intrinsically correlated – we cannot solve one without considering the other.

“In the 30 years since the Rio Conventions were initiated to enable international cooperation on climate, biodiversity and land issues, the biodiversity and climate crises have worsened.”

The recommendations are based on FfB’s analysis of the synergies and trade-offs of nature-based solutions to establish sustainable, net-zero carbon economies, including solutions that rehabilitate water sources and restore forested areas.

FfB urges private companies to fill the finance gap, which it estimates at $8.1 trillion, in nature-based solutions. Currently, only 14% of capital for nature-based solutions is provided by the private sector, according to the World Resources Institute.

The report was written by FfB Foundation’s Impact Assessment working group for bankers, insurers, asset managers and asset owners.