Developing a Biodiversity Strategy: Five Key Points to Get Started

Increasingly, regulatory and voluntary reporting frameworks encourage companies to consider their impacts on biodiversity and dependencies on nature. Sabrina Capon, Biodiversity Manager, and Jeanne Barreyre, Senior Research Consultant in Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity, answer the most frequently asked questions about developing a biodiversity strategy.

1. How to begin implementing a biodiversity strategy?

Regardless of your company’s size or your sector’s maturity, there are some steps you can follow to understand and prioritise biodiversity issues. Depending on your company’s initial intentions, some actions may be prioritised while others can be postponed. Therefore, it is essential to know why you’re embarking on this approach.

Step 1: Raise awareness and train your teams

To understand the concepts and risks related to biodiversity loss, it’s necessary to train your teams. Whether it’s the team directly in charge of the project, your management team, or your employees, involving them in your biodiversity strategy from the start will be beneficial. This allows you to leverage collective intelligence and co-develop your strategy.

Step 2: Conduct a macro diagnosis of ecosystem health across your entire value chain

Begin by screening your value chain according to your industry. This analysis will provide an overview of the pressures and dependencies on nature, identifying the global issues your company faces. It’s also an effective tool for raising awareness and better understanding risks.

Step 3: Define material issues

Refine your diagnosis by identifying the material issues specific to your company. Focus on the most important geographic areas, sites, pressures, dependencies, or raw materials. This step allows you to target priorities and direct efforts for future actions. This prioritisation is essential to effectively allocate resources and maximize the impact of your biodiversity initiatives.

2. What are biodiversity metrics?

Unlike climate change, there is no single metric to assess biodiversity. Companies can use a diverse range of data, both non-aggregated and aggregated, to measure their impact on biodiversity.

a) Non-aggregated data: This data relates to the five main drivers of biodiversity impact, such as:

• Land use change: artificialized area (ha)
• Direct resource exploitation: water consumption (m³)
• Carbon footprint: greenhouse gas emissions (tCO₂e)
• Pollution: quantity of chemicals used (t)

b) Aggregated data: These indicators provide a global estimate of the impact on biodiversity:

• MSA (Mean Species Abundance) per km²: measures the average abundance of species per unit area
• PEF (Potentially Extinct Fraction): reflects the potential fraction of species that have disappeared due to human activities

To calculate this data, various tools and databases can be used, such as:

• Globio: to translate pressures into impacts
• GBS (Global Biodiversity Score): to assess a company’s biodiversity footprint
• BRF (Biodiversity Risk Filter): to identify and manage biodiversity-related risks
• IBAT (Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool): to access data on key biodiversity areas (KBAs)
• ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure): to analyse companies’ dependencies and impacts on biodiversity
• LCA (Life Cycle Assessment): to assess the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle

These are examples of a model-based estimation approach. It’s also possible to conduct field surveys where the metrics will focus on the number of species and quality of species.

It’s essential to combine several indicators to get a complete and precise assessment of the impact on biodiversity, considering the specificities of each company and its activities.

3. What are the CSRD requirements for biodiversity?

From 2025, the first sustainability reports aligned with the CSRD will need to be published by the first round of European companies. The CSRD requires companies to provide specific reporting based on the materiality of their issues.

Mandatory requirements:

• Double materiality: Companies must integrate a double materiality analysis into their biodiversity reporting. This means assessing not only how biodiversity issues impact their financial performance (financial materiality or dependencies) but also how their activities affect biodiversity and ecosystems (impact materiality or pressures).

Mandatory requirements if material for biodiversity:

• IRO (Impacts, Risks and Opportunities): Companies must identify and report material risks and opportunities related to biodiversity. This includes the potential impact of biodiversity loss on the short, medium, and long-term performance of the company, as well as opportunities related to the conservation and restoration of ecosystems.

• Metrics: Organisations are required to disclose specific metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) related to biodiversity. These metrics must be quantifiable and can relate to the number and area of sites near key biodiversity areas (mandatory if material), land use change (mandatory if material), area of habitat restored, reduction of emissions of pollutants affecting biodiversity, or the number of species protected as a result of the company’s actions.

• Policies: Companies must develop and publish clear and detailed policies regarding biodiversity. These policies must demonstrate their commitments to biodiversity conservation and the actions they undertake to mitigate the risks of biodiversity loss and seize conservation opportunities.

By complying with these requirements, companies not only adhere to the CSRD but also strengthen their credibility and performance in terms of biodiversity, thus contributing to the preservation of ecosystems for future generations.

4. What are the current limitations to addressing biodiversity?

There are several limitations due to the inherent complexity of this topic:

• Lack of a single metric: Unlike carbon emissions, there is no single, universal indicator to assess biodiversity. Companies must use a combination of non-aggregated and aggregated data to obtain an overview.
• Lack of universal tools: No tool can cover all biodiversity issues, however a multitude of tools and databases are available and can address different issues. This is why it is essential that companies define their needs as clearly as possible.
• Need to combine local approaches and the value chain: For a complete assessment, it is crucial to combine site-specific analysis with those of the global value chain. This holistic approach is complex to implement.

In addition, some concepts borrowed from the climate theme such as transition plans, scenario analysis and financial risk assessment are even less mature in the context of biodiversity. They require the development of specific and adapted methods that we expect to see emerge in the coming months by frameworks and institutions.

Biodiversity approaches must navigate in a complex and evolving framework, combining various metrics and tools for an effective assessment and management of their impact on biodiversity. However, even though the frameworks are still under construction and the perfect tool does not exist, we should not remain inactive. Faced with the urgency of biodiversity erosion, it is imperative to act now.

5. How can EcoAct help you develop your biodiversity strategy?

Biodiversity remains a complex topic, which is why we have created a team of experts at EcoAct to support our clients.

Our approach, aligned with reporting frameworks, can be summarised in the following diagram:

We are convinced that the prerequisite for any biodiversity approach is awareness and training. We can offer a programme adapted to your needs to help you carry out your biodiversity strategy independently: murals, workshops, training in tools and frameworks for project teams and employees. Our objective is to offer you tailor-made support while integrating a transfer of skills throughout your project.

From the analysis of double materiality to the implementation of actions, including the study of risks and opportunities, the EcoAct biodiversity team can support you at each stage based on existing frameworks and methodologies (IBAT, eDNA, etc.). We rely specifically on three frameworks:

1. The LEAP approach of the TNFD to transform identified pressures and dependencies into risks and opportunities,
2. Steps 1 and 2 of the SBTs for nature to geolocate the issues and translate them into a detailed and geolocalised action plan,
3. “Align” recommendations to align with best practices in terms of measuring and assessing biodiversity impacts.

For a complete and effective biodiversity strategy, we recommend combining value chain and site-specific analyses. This ensures a holistic and coherent approach, adapted to your business context.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information on developing a biodiversity strategy.