Integrating Biodiversity into the Core Business of Financial Institutions
The Green Finance Alliance (GFA) has published a new guide outlining how biodiversity and nature can be systematically integrated into the core business activities of financial institutions. This guidance is available not only to GFA members but also to the entire Austrian financial market.
Beyond the climate crisis, we are facing another significant environmental challenge: the biodiversity crisis. This crisis is driven by factors such as intensive land use, overexploitation of organisms, and pollution of air, water, and soil.
For financial institutions, the biodiversity crisis is highly relevant. On one hand, the economic activities they finance can be major drivers of biodiversity loss. On the other hand, the real economy's dependence on ecosystem services and the associated physical and financial risks are increasingly significant for the financial sector.
The GFA guide provides a structured approach for financial institutions to integrate biodiversity into their core business. It is based on an analysis of existing literature and both national and international frameworks. Building on this foundation, the guide offers concrete recommendations for GFA members, organized into the following key areas:
- Topic selection and prioritisation
- Strategic orientation
- Governance and mainstreaming
- Engagement
- Expansion of green activities
- Targets and impact metrics
- Implementation
Primarily, the guide serves as a practical tool for GFA members to support the holistic integration of biodiversity into their core business. However, it is also publicly available to the broader financial market and can be applied by non-members as well.
The guide also highlights how the recommended measures can support the implementation of key elements of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Additionally, it illustrates how these measures can contribute to the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).