Investors and biodiversity
The financial sector’s role in facilitating others to damage biodiversity and ecosystem services is increasingly being recognized. Reputation risks and liabilities from association with bad practice are especially well known in project finance.
The business risks of losing security of supply or the implications of potential failure of vital ecosystem services (such as a stable water supply or climate control) as a threat to returns on investment is being better understood. In response markets are working to offer new investment opportunities to investors.
These challenges have direct impacts on financial performance, especially in sectors that are closely dependent on ecosystem services such as the food, drink and tobacco (FBT) sectors. Communication on this issue between companies in these sectors and the financial community is weak. Strong practices remain unrewarded and risk exposure unnoticed.
The Natural Value Initiative (NVI) bridges this gap by working with the finance sector to develop a toolkit to evaluate the investment risks and opportunities posed by FBT companies’ dependence and impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
