S&B Global | Natural Capital & Biodiversity Report
Published in 2021, this report reflects the discussion held by the S&P Global Ratings Sustainable Finance Scientific Council. It explores the urgent need to treat nature as a core economic asset, highlighting how biodiversity loss – driven by deforestation, climate change, and unsustainable consumption – is increasingly recognized as a systemic risk. The report calls for integrating natural capital into financial and policy decision-making, emphasizing that traditional climate solutions may not fully address biodiversity concerns. By advancing nature-focused accounting and valuation, the report urges governments, corporations, and investors to prioritize ecosystem health as essential to long-term economic resilience
Highlights
– Climate change and biodiversity loss are interlinked, but solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to benefit biodiversity in the same way.
– Instead, biodiversity needs to be given equal consideration in any nature-based climate solution offering.
– The biodiversity crisis is a still-nascent ESG consideration for investors, but it is climbing up the agenda.
– Governments and companies are increasingly viewing the incorporation of natural capital into assessments of wealth and performance as fundamental to addressing biodiversity loss.
– Targeted corporate and government actions to reduce deforestation linked to soy, beef, and palm oil will form a key part of the response, as will supporting smallholder farmers and indigenous communities to protect nature.
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