Tag: biodiversity

January 11, 2021

New in Sustainable Finance

Sustainability runs capital. During the last 10 years the capital in sustainable indexes has doubled. During the last year sustainability indexes that concentrate on environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G) have had higher returns than their non-sustainable competitors both on the European and North American market. As there are several indexes it can be difficult for investors to understand what they contain and how to compare them. The European Union strives to make the indexes more comparable and transparent by creating new directives and therefor creating a stronger and cleaner economy.

EU leads capital towards sustainability

The new laws concerning sustainable finance by the European Union leads towards sustainable investing by a creation of clearer definition of tools and obligations of sustainability reporting and -valuation. To support this, the European Union has published the EU Taxonomy Regulation for sustainable development. The Taxonomy Regulation contains harmonic criteria that define whether the economic activity is sustainable from the nature’s perspective. The classification contains e.g., climate change, water resources, and circular economy. The creation of the taxonomy regulation unites sustainable reporting which makes it easier for investors and other financial actors to make their investment decisions. The classification is new for companies and it is profitable to start preparing for them already now.

Additionally, the European Commission will approve a directive in June 2021 that specifies the reporting among non-financial information. The directive defines how and how widely companies must report according to the above-mentioned Taxonomy Regulation.

The first company- and investment reports in accordance with the new Taxonomy Regulation must be published in the beginning of 2022 about the financial information from 2021.

You might be interested in our webinar recording“New in Sustainable Finance: How to apply EU’s taxonomy regulation and reporting requirements”

Are you interested in sustainable finance? Are you familiar with the new classifications and reporting requirements in sustainability by EU? Have you wondered how you should prepare to meet the obligations?

Welcome to hear more about sustainable finance, the new obligations and how one should prepare to develop the reports. Our expert will go through EU’s Taxonomy Regulation in our webinar recording.

Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions

At the end of July, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published a global standard for the use of nature-based solutions (NbS) to address global environmental challenges. The standard helps governments, businesses, and societies to assess the effectiveness of nature-based solutions and make the most of them to manage societal challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and food security.

As countries all over the world strives to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and move towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is crucial to ensure that future investments in nature reach their potential. To help businesses and societies address this challenge, the first-ever IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions was launched to guide the institutions through NbS applications and set benchmarks for their progress.

What is Nature-based solutions and why is a standard needed?

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions that seek to address social challenges through the protection, restoration, and sustainable use of natural or modified ecosystems, and thereby improving the well-being of both biodiversity and people. Examples of NbS are reforestation, beach protection and green infrastructure. These all benefits both the nature and people.

There is a need for a standard to guide this kind of activities because not all solutions called nature-based are in themselves a guarantee that they take into account the well-being of both society and nature. Because of the lack of knowledge, many activities may unintentionally harm the biodiversity. The working group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) therefore wanted to develop a scientifically valid criteria that would be suitable for a wide range of situations, regions and social systems, so that both people and nature would benefit in the long term. Such a framework is essential to increase the scale and impact of Nature-based Solutions, to prevent negative outcomes or misuse, and help funding agencies, policy makers and other stakeholders assess the effectiveness of interventions, and direct investments in the right direction.

How does the standard work?

The Global Standard for NbS is a self-assessment tool consisting of eight criteria and related indicators, addressing all three pillars of sustainable development: biodiversity, economy, and society. The criteria also take into account sustainable project planning and management. The requirements of the standard allow the user to assess the scope and economic, environmental, and social impact of their own activities and then compare it with international agreements and objectives. At the same time, the transparency of operations is improving and operations can be continuously improved.

The standard contains indicative instructions and advice on how the user can evaluate and develop his or her own nature-based solutions and, on the other hand, see which practices still need to be improved. The standard evaluation matrix provides the user with information on how many percent of the user’s activities meet the criteria. The information is presented in color codes reminiscent of a traffic light system, from which the user can easily see which actions still need to be developed. IUCN, who monitors the standard, reviews the aspects and requirements of the standard every four years, so that their suitability for companies and actors in various fields can be improved.

Companies and other actors using the framework will be able to design effective and ambitious sustainability-based NbS, that facilitate discussion with stakeholders and, on the other hand, spark new ideas and innovations.

Need help?

Ecobio’s environmental experts help your company achieve the goals of sustainable development!

Text: Mai Kärppä & Caisa Lindblom, Ecobio oy

Picture: Shutterstock

Sources:

https://www.iucn.org/theme/nature-based-solutions/iucn-global-standard-nbs

https://www.iucn.org/news/nature-based-solutions/202007/iucn-standard-boost-impact-nature-based-solutions-global-challenges

November 21, 2019

Ecological compensation – a way to strengthen biodiversity

The Finnish Environment Institute, SYKE, has published a Policy Brief on ecological compensation (20.11.2019). According to the policy brief ecological compensation can help companies protect biodiversity. With the help of compensation, companies compensate human damage to nature by increasing the biodiversity. (SYKE 2019)

Ecological compensation

Ecological compensation means that local damage inflicted by humans on nature is offset by enhancing natural diversity elsewhere. Compensation can be done through restoring, managing, or protecting habitats. Compensation is a tool where harm cannot be avoided or alleviated on the spot. Examples of ways to compensate are the restoration of traditional agricultural environments, the restoration of drained marshes or the increase of decay woods in forests. The compensation payer is the operator who caused the damage, for example a company, municipality or the state. The method, amount and price of ecological compensation must be based on the threat to the habitat, its rarity and the means of restoration. Compensation should also, where possible, mitigate climate change. (SYKE 2019)

The actors of the compensation procedure consist of public authorities, intermediaries, companies, landowners and citizens. Below you can see the roles of the different actors.

SYKE 2019

Compensation is intended to encourage companies to proactively protect biodiversity, as compensation is a cost to businesses. Interest in ecological compensation has increased especially among companies whose operations alter the use of land and which need environmental permits to operate. (SYKE 2019)

Biodiversity

Biodiversity or in other words, the abundance of wildlife (from animals to plants), is declining at an alarming rate. Already one in nine species is endangered in Finland. The main reason for the endangering is the loss of habitats and the quality of them. (Ministry of the Environment 2019, SYKE 2019) Biodiversity must be protected and maintained in order to safeguard life on Earth. Many species are vital to functioning ecosystems.

Ecobios experts – pioneers within biodiversity

Our biodiversity experts, Henrik Österlund and Inka Voutilainen, are currently one of the few biodiversity experts in Finland who can assist your company with biodiversity loss, company specific impact assessment and ecological compensation.

Do you have any questions? Do not hesitate to contact us at info@ecobio.fi

Caisa Lindblom

July 2, 2019

9th Conference on Biodiversity in Trondheim

The Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the Norwegian Government arranges the 9th Conference on Biodiversity in Trondheim, today (Tuesday, July 2). About 450 delegates from 120 countries are expected to attend the conference. Representatives consists mainly of decision-makers and experts. Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change in Finland, is participating in the conference.

Why is the conference held?

“In 2020 (in Kunming, China) the Convention on Biological Diversity will adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework as a stepping stone towards the 2050 Vision of “Living in harmony with nature”. This vision was agreed under the CBD in 2010 (in Nagoya, Japan), and reads that the vision is a world of “Living in harmony with nature” where “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”

The Conference will address the challenges of achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and explore pathways for the transformational changes needed. The Trondheim Conferences on Biodiversity have since 1993 created opportunities for increasing understanding amongst stakeholders about issues on the biodiversity agenda.

The 9th Trondheim Conference will bring together decision-makers and experts from around the world to learn about and discuss knowledge and know-how for the global post-2020 biodiversity framework. The Conference will directly support the process established by the Convention on Biological Diversity for preparing this framework, with opportunities for major players to discuss key issues informally outside of the negotiation process.” https://trondheimconference.org/

Follow the live-stream from the conference here

Finland´s EU Presidency and its biodiversity agenda

On Monday (1.7.) Finland begun its six-month stint in the rotating presidency of the European Council.

The top priorities of the Finnish Presidency include strengthening the EU’s position as a global climate leader. According to the Finnish EU Presidency program, sustainability must be a common denominator for all EU action, and the implementation of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development must be ensured both within the Union and beyond. EU should raise its profile as a global climate leader by creating a long-term climate strategy which will help EU become carbon neutral in 2050. Finland will drive the EU Presidency with an ambitious and clear road map to improve biodiversity.

During its presidency, Finland will take steps to implement the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and animal welfare.

Ecobio helps you reach the sustainability goals of your company – we help you balance business and nature.

For further information please get in touch:

Email: info@ecobio.fi

Phone: +358 (0)20 756 9450

The ministry of the Environment wrote about this