Biodiversity Loss: An Introduction for Risk Professionals

Risks from biodiversity are an increasing focus of financial services firms — and rightfully so. Biodiversity loss, after all, was one of the top three risks identified in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Risks Report, joining climate change and extreme weather. Regulators worldwide, moreover, are now examining more closely the impact of environmental threats — including biodiversity loss — on financial risks. Consequently, it’s critical for financial institutions to understand both the ramifications of biodiversity loss for their portfolios and the impact of their financial activities on biodiversity. There has, of course, been a sharp rise in the attention regulators, investors, and policymakers have paid to climate-change-driven financial risks since the 2015 Paris Agreement. But the emergence of biodiversity loss as a systemic threat has yielded important questions. For example, what is biodiversity and why does it matter? How are biodiversity loss and climate change interconnected? How do financial activities impact biodiversity loss, and what are the risks for financial firms? Why is it important for risk professionals to build up their biodiversity loss skills and expertise?

source :

https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate/biodiversity-loss-climate-risk