Fifteen financial institutions have joined the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF). By doing so, they are showing their commitment to actively pursuing a shared methodology for measuring and reporting the impact of their loans and investments on biodiversity. This allows financial institutions to calculate their biodiversity footprint and take targeted action to restore and protect biodiversity.
The Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting
Financials was formed in 2019 by founding partners ASN Bank (part of de
Volksbank), ACTIAM, FMO, Robeco, Triodos Bank and Triple Jump. Fifteen more
financial institutions have now decided to join the partnership. These are ABN
AMRO Bank, APG, Achmea Investment
Management, a.s.r. vermogensbeheer, BNP Paribas, de Volksbank, Finance in Motion,
FirstRand Group, NN
Investment Partners, NWB Bank, Piraeus Financial Holdings, Rabobank, Rathbone
Greenbank Investments, UFF African Agri Investments and Van Lanschot Kempen. Today, the partnership consists of 21 members
and total participant assets under management are $ 5.8 Trillion.
Roel Nozeman,
Senior Advisor Biodiversity at ASN Bank and chairman of the partnership, is
excited about the new partners joining the platform.
“A growing number of banks and insurance companies realise that loss of
biodiversity poses a major threat both to society and to the economy, and that
we need action now. Through our loans and investments, we can limit the damage
to ecosystems and contribute to the protection and restoration of nature. To do
so, we have to adopt a common approach to measuring our impact and using data,
as we did before in the climate debate. The Common Ground Report, which PBAF presented last year at a UN biodiversity convention, is an excellent first step. We will join
hands with all new partners to continue developing that common approach in
dialogue with initiatives such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial
Disclosures (TNFD) and in line with EU legislation.”
The shared ambition of the PBAF partners is for
financial institutions to measure their impact on biodiversity, for them to be
transparent about their impact reporting and for them to set targets to improve
their ecological footprint. The aim is to present a new report describing the
partners’ common metrics in 2021. To achieve this, the partners will team up in
a number of working groups to address relevant issues, such as:
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth and to ecosystems, i.e. the
systems that sustain this life, such as forests and oceans. As it stands, the
planet’s biodiversity is rapidly declining across the globe. Studies show that
1 million plant and animal species are threatening to become extinct. The world
is losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. Many commodities and economic
sectors are dependent on the variety of plants, animals and insects in the
world, either directly or indirectly. An estimated 50% of global economic value generation is dependent on nature.
The Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials was formed in 2019 by ASN Bank, ACTIAM, FMO, Robeco, Triodos Bank and Triple Jump. The objective of the partnership is to exchange knowledge with a view to contributing to a common approach to assessing and measuring the financial sector’s impact on biodiversity. In 2020, the knowledge platform presented its first Common Ground Report, describing their common metrics for measuring positive and negative impacts of investments on biodiversity, at a UN convention.
