Biodiversity - the underestimated challenge

Everyone is talking about wars, threats to democracy and the climate crisis. At COP16, the UN conference in Colombia, a different topic is being discussed: The loss of biodiversity. The biodiversity crisis is one of the most important but often neglected threats of our time, as it does not come in the form of hurricanes and forest fires, but quietly and insidiously. 

While climate change and CO₂ emissions have long since become an integral part of economic and political ambitions and maxims for action, the issue of biodiversity often remains in the shadows. Yet the economic implications of species loss and the destruction of ecosystems are enormous. In addition, climate and nature conservation measures are mutually dependent and mutually reinforcing. Goals such as “net zero emissions” by 2050 and "nature positivity ” (gain in biodiversity) must go hand in hand. 

In view of the importance of “natural assets”, the financial industry is also increasingly coming into focus. Stakeholders and regulators expect biodiversity aspects and risks to be integrated into management and disclosure processes. The statement by Frank Elderson, member of the Executive Board of the ECB, points the way forward: "Since we have explicitly recognized the materiality of nature-based financial risks, there is no longer any reason in principle for there to be less progress in dealing with environmental risks than with climate risks.

Bankers who are familiar with the following terms and abbreviations can sit back and relax. For everyone else, we recommend the easily accessible zeb.study on biodiversity.

The “small Latinum” of biodiversity for bankers: SDGs, EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Frameworks, Target 15 of the GBF, NGFS, PBAF, ENCORE, TNFD, GRI, ESRS 4 etc.