New report out to help businesses and financial institutions measure their impact on nature

The new report by the EU Business @ Biodiversity Platform critically compares existing ‘natural capital accounting’ methods and helps businesses and financial institutions choose the right method for their specific context. It classifies the available methods by which business activity it can support, making it easier for businesses to select the most suitable biodiversity tools and metrics. Future reports will show how these methods are being used in practice and what we can learn from these cases.

The EU is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate due to human activities, and businesses are becoming increasingly aware of their role in the biodiversity crisis. Business activities do not only impact biodiversity, but also depend on nature’s resources such as food, fiber, minerals and building material, as well as ecosystem services such as pollination of crops, water filtration, waste decomposition and climate regulation.

Different methods for measuring a business’ impact on biodiversity, also referred to as ‘natural capital accounting’, have been developed by different actors on all levels. However, businesses and financial institutions struggle to find the right method and general accepted approaches are still lacking. Faced with these challenges, the EU Business @ Biodiversity Platform, is leading the work an assessment of the available ‘natural capital accounting’ methods. The platform is a forum set up by the European Commission where businesses exchange their knowledge and expertise why and how biodiversity and natural capital is helping them taking better decisions.