Biodiversity has been at the forefront of the United Nations agenda since the start of the autumn. First, with the adoption on 19 September of the BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) agreement relating to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and concerning the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It covers the protection and conservation of the high seas, which account for two-thirds of the oceans. Then, of course, there was COP30, which has just ended in Belém, Brazil. A city located in close proximity to the Amazon, where issues such as biodiversity preservation and the fight against deforestation were bound to be highlighted.
A topic that requires a high level of expertise
Biodiversity also plays a key role in the field of sustainable finance. But this is often because it raises a lot of questions: what data sources should be used and how should they be exploited? What are the latest regulatory developments? What are the risks associated with biodiversity? What are the levers for improving sustainable performance in this area?
These are all questions that WeeFin's team of sustainable finance experts are constantly working on. To share their knowledge, over the past two years they have also published a series of practical guides on the links between biodiversity and finance.
Five guides are already available to download free of charge:
- Guide No. 1: Understanding the link between biodiversity and finance. This guide includes a detailed presentation with figures on the challenges surrounding biodiversity and human impact on it, as well as an overview of the regulatory obligations related to biodiversity.
- Guide No. 2: Identifying the parameters to be included in your biodiversity strategy through impact and dependency analysis. This guide will help you take biodiversity into account in your sustainable investment strategy by providing practical advice on identifying your data sources and choosing the methodology to use, as well as presenting a practical case study.
- Guide No. 3: Measuring biodiversity-related risks. For many financial institutions, biodiversity is synonymous with risk when it is not properly addressed in investment strategies. This guide is designed to help you better identify these risks (physical risks, transition risks, liability risks) in order to limit potential financial losses and enable you to better identify investment opportunities.
- Guide No. 4: Agriculture and biodiversity. This practical guide explores the links between biodiversity, agriculture and sustainable finance. It focuses in particular on the levers available to the financial sector to promote the transformation of agriculture towards a more virtuous model.
- Guide No. 5: Fishing and aquaculture. This practical guide is aimed at investors who want to reduce the impact of their portfolios on marine ecosystems while seizing the opportunities linked to the sector's transition. It presents the levers available to them: sector-specific ESG ratings, exclusion of the most destructive practices, shareholder engagement around recognised certifications (MSC, ASC), controversy monitoring, public data sources and thematic funds dedicated to the sustainable blue economy.
Other guides will soon be added to this series, addressing other topics related to biodiversity and sustainable finance. To stay informed about their publication, follow us on our LinkedIn page.
