Nature and biodiversity

Biodiversity is the web of life that underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on our health and livelihoods.¹ More than half of global economic output, about USD$44 trillion of economic value generation, is moderately or highly dependent on nature.² Biodiversity enables nature to be productive, resilient and adaptable. Just as we diversify our investment portfolios to reduce risk, nature needs diversity to be resilient and minimise disruption to the ecosystem that we rely so heavily on.³

Disruptions to the ecosystem such as destruction of habitats, overexploitation of natural resources and pollution will disrupt the balance of nature, impacting food security and goods and supply chains.

It is estimated up to 70,000 plant species are harvested for traditional and modern medicines globally, and about 100 million metric tonnes of aquatic life are taken from the wild each year.⁴ When that supply stops, our livelihoods will be profoundly affected.

In additional to that, biodiversity conservation is critical to addressing climate change. With the current pace of biodiversity loss, our fight against climate change will not succeed. Both issues are mutually dependent as nature and biodiversity cannot be considered in isolation from climate change.

Whilst there is currently a lack of guidance and frameworks for identifying and addressing nature-related risks and opportunities, this is improving. We look forward to additional guidance from the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, and the Science Based Targets Network, to help inform our approach.

1. https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/biodiversity/biodiversity_and_you/
2. World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/01/half-of-world-s-gdp-moderately-or-highly-dependent-on-nature-says-new-report/
3. The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review
4. https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/biodiversity/biodiversity_and_you/