Biodiversity Working Group

Biodiversity is declining rapidly worldwide. If we do not take action now, up to one million species could disappear. Many economic sectors depend directly or indirectly on the world's diversity of plants, animals and ecosystems. This is why biodiversity loss leads to huge costs, of between €1.7 trillion and €3.9 trillion each year. It is therefore crucial for future generations that we do our utmost to conserve and restore biodiversity.

In recent years, biodiversity has been declining dramatically, mainly due to human activities such as land and sea use change, direct exploitation of resources, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species. These factors are also known as the drivers of biodiversity loss. By tackling these drivers financial institutions can reduce their negative impact on biodiversity.

Investing in and financing of biodiversity

There is growing awareness across the Dutch financial sector that rapid action must be taken to conserve and restore biodiversity. This requires major investments. According to the Sustainable Finance Platform's Working Group on Biodiversity, it is up to financial institutions to take the lead here. Each year, the working group shares plans and good practices on investing and financing in biodiversity that can be found at the bottom of this page. Are you new to biodiversity? The Working Group on Biodiversity has also published an introductory e-learning on biodiversity for financial sector employees.

Roadmap for the protection of biodiversity

The Working Group on Biodiversity of the Sustainable Finance Platform has developed a roadmap to help financial institutions counter biodiversity loss. It provides guidance for all financial institutions, from absolute beginners to the very advanced.

About the working group

The Working Group on Biodiversity consists of 12 financial institutions and 2 societal organisations. Its members are ABN Amro Actiam, APG, ASN Bank, ASN Impact Investors, a.s.r., FMO, ING, van Lanschot Kempen, NWB Bank, Rabobank, Robeco, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and the Erasmus Platform for Sustainable Value Creation. It is headed by Lidwin van Velden, chair of NWB Bank's Executive Committee.