Green Finance Alliance Report

Biodiversity and the core business of financial companies

The ongoing biodiversity crisis and climate change are closely interconnected and highly relevant for financial companies. On the one hand, this results from the economic activities they finance and their contribution to the main drivers of biodiversity loss. On the other hand, the real economy's dependencies on ecosystem services – and the associated physical and financial risks – also hold significant implications for financial companies.

These guidelines outline how financial companies can systematically integrate the environmental topic of biodiversity into their core business. To this end, ex isting scientific literature and both national and international frameworks have been analysed and summarised (see chapter 2, "Scientific and technical founda tions"). Building on this, these guidelines provide specific recommendations for members of the Green Finance Alliance (GFA), structured into the following the matic areas (see chapter 3, "Recommendations for integrating biodiversity for GFA members"):

  • Topic selection and prioritisation
  • Strategic orientation
  • Governance and mainstreaming
  • Engagement
  • Expansion of green activities
  • Target setting and impact metrics
  • Implementation These guidelines are intended to support GFA members in integrating biodiver sity into their core business in a holistic way.

They also explain how the recom mended measures can support the implementation of individual elements of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other regulatory requirements, and how they can contribute to achieving the goals of the Kun ming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Herausgeber:
Environment Agency Austria on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management
Ausgabejahr:
2025
Ausgabeort:
Vienna
Format:
Download
Kategorie:
Green Finance
Seitenanzahl:
48