Biodiversity

The variability of life on Earth is encompassed in the concept of biodiversity. It represents nature’s capacity to provide the ecosystem services on which humans, other species, societies and economies rely on. Without biodiversity or biological diversity, life and economic activities as we know them simply could not exist. Biodiversity loss is, therefore a material financial risk. The need to urgently preserve and protect terrestrial, inland water, marine and coastal ecosystems was globally recognised in December 2022 with the launch of the Global Framework on Biodiversity (GFB). The framework has established a baseline for international action through to 2030 and will ultimately require a systemic shift in agricultural production.

This has also been highlighted by financial and corporate standards such as Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), calling for organisations to manage and report biodiversity-related risks and set effective targets to prevent biodiversity loss.

As a result, FAIRR’s efforts seek to address the key drivers of biodiversity loss, its associated risks, and opportunities through sector analysis and company engagement. The meat and dairy sector’s impact on biodiversity loss are cause by the five principal drivers identified by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). They are as follows:

• Land/sea-use change

• Direct exploitation of natural resources

• Climate change

• Pollution

• Invasive alien species

FAIRR’s biodiversity thematic work aims to support investors understand the biodiversity footprinting tools available to them, and tackle the risks identified through collaborative engagements on waste and pollution, aquaculture feed, and seafood traceability.