Financial institutions share their approach to biodiversity
A group of eight Dutch financial institutions have revealed how they attempt to curb the loss of biodiversity. They have described their approach in a joint paper on the relationship between biodiversity and the financial sector.
Risks and impact
The paper, entitled Biodiversity; Opportunities & Risks for the Financial Sector,addresses two important questions: how financial institutions can be affected by risks arising from the loss of biodiversity, and how they can have a positive impact on the preservation and restoration of biodiversity. For example, failing ecosystems can lead to credit risks for banks. This occurs when natural resources are rendered inaccessible and the production processes that rely on them are disrupted as a result. Preserving and restoring biodiversity requires a major shift towards investments that support these activities, and in this respect financial institutions can play a key role.
Practical approach
There is growing awareness, as is the case with climate change, that rapid action must be taken to curb the loss of biodiversity. In order to address the importance of biodiversity for financial institutions, Actiam, APG, ASN Bank, a.s.r., FMO, Rabobank, Robeco and NWB Bank together with the Dutch Ministry of Nature and Food Quality and the Erasmus Platform for Sustainable Value Creation set up a working group under the auspices of the Sustainable Finance Platform. The working group is headed by Lidwin van Velden, chair of the board of NWB Bank. They have combined their knowledge to produce a paper in which they also give specific examples of how the working group members have integrated biodiversity into their organisation and activities. DNB Governing Board member and chair of the Sustainable Finance Platform Frank Elderson: “The loss of biodiversity is one of the greatest and most urgent challenges of our time. This paper provides financial institutions with the very latest insight into the steps they can take to manage the financial risks arising from the loss of biodiversity. The eight institutions behind this paper go even one step further by actively striving to preserve and restore biodiversity. They offer concrete examples for those wishing to follow in their footsteps.”
About the Sustainable Finance Platform
The Sustainable Finance Platform is a cooperative venture of the Dutch Association of Insurers, the Federation of the Dutch Pension Funds, the Dutch Fund and Asset Management Association, the Dutch Banking Association, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Sustainable Finance Lab, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets and De Nederlandsche Bank. The aim of this platform, set up by DNB in 2016, is to promote and raise awareness for sustainable funding in the financial sector. Twice a year, the Platform members meet to discuss the new and ongoing sustainability initiatives in the Dutch financial sector. The Platform's working groups also concentrate on various themes.
Further information
For more information, please contact Corina Ruhe at +31 20 524 2272 or +31 65 541 8351.