gbs a tool to assess the of businesses and financial assets · gbs assessments by objectives and by...

Introduction to the

GBS – a tool to

assess the

biodiversity footprint

of businesses and

financial assets

15 January 2020

❑ 14:00 – Introduction to the Global Biodiversity Score

❑ 15:30 – Case Studies Presentation

❑ 16:25 – Towards a common standard for biodiversity footprint

❑ 16:45 – Discussion

❑ 17:00 – End

Agenda

PAGE 2

Introduction to the Global Biodiversity Score

PAGE 3

Context and overview

PAGE 4

❑ Go to www.menti.com and enter the code 80 19 53

❑ Let’s start by getting to know each other…

Mentimeter

PAGE 5

http://www.menti.com/

Context: a massive loss of ecological integrity

This loss can be quantitatively linked to five

main direct drivers, caused by indirect drivers

Source: IPBES 2019PAGE 7

Most of the activities impacting biodiversity lack a

satisfactory framework to measure, avoid, reduce

and offset their impacts

PAGE 8

Significant impact –

No clear idea what

to do; a lot of general

certifications which

do little to prevent

biodiversity loss

Relatively

high impact -

No clear

idea what to

do

Relatively smaller impact –

Developed framework

(IFC PS6, etc.)

Impacts on

terrestrial

biodiversity

The 2019-2020 sequence is particularly favourable

for biodiversity

PAGE 9

7th IPBES plenary29/04 – 4/05/19

Paris

Environment G7 chaired by FranceMay 2019

OECD Green Finance Forum

30/10/19 - Paris

GBS 1.0 critical review report

GBS 1.0

IUCN World Congress2020

Marseille

CBD COP1417-29/11/18

Sharm El-Sheikh

CBD COP152020 - Kunming

2018 2019 2020


❑ Do you know the 20 Aichi targets?

Mentimeter

PAGE 10

http://www.menti.com/

The GBS makes it possible to take into account

business actions and align them with international

targets

- Sustainable supply chains

- Financing & governance

- Capacity building and

communication

Actions :

- Screen suppliers against deforestation

- Offset carbon emissions

- Reduce water consumption

Targets :

- Zero net deforestation

- Zero plastic

- Halve water footprint

Potential translations for

businesses (examples)

Post-2020 goals &

targets

GBS

assessments

by objectives

and by actions

Tools &

solutions

Reducing

threats to

biodiversity

State of

biodiversity

Total footprint

The planet crossed the planetary boundary for

functional biodiversity and the contribution of

businesses can be measured

The prerequisites for a biodiversity footprint for

businesses and financial institutions

❑ Quantitative

❑ Global

❑ Spatialized

❑ Transparent

❑ Cross-sectoral

❑ Scientifically consensual

Multiple needs, multiple tools

PAGE 14


❑ What biodiversity measurement tools do you know of?

Mentimeter

PAGE 15

The GBS fits within this context

PAGE 16

𝐌𝐒𝐀 % =𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠)

𝑈𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠)

The unit of the GBS :

𝑘𝑚2𝑀𝑆𝐴 = 𝑀𝑆𝐴% × 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒

The biodiversity metric: the Mean Species

Abundance (MSA)

1 km² MSA loss is equivalent to the destruction of

1 km² of pristine natural areas


❑ According to you, what aspects of biodiversity are

measured by the MSA?

Mentimeter

PAGE 18

The Global Biodiversity Score (GBS) tool

❑ A corporate biodiversity footprint assessment tool: evaluates the impact of companies and investments on biodiversity at a corporate level

❑ Results expressed in MSA.km2 with MSA the Mean Species Abundance, a metric characterizing the intactness of ecosystems

❑ Links data on economic activity to pressures on biodiversity, and translate them into biodiversity impacts

▪ Hybrid approach used, to take advantage of the best data available at each assessment step

❑ Covers the main pressures on biodiversity: Land use, Fragmentation, Encroachment, Atmospheric nitrogen deposition, Climate change, Hydrological disturbance, Wetland conversion, Nutrient emissions and Land use change in catchment

Frequently asked questions

PAGE 20

❑ What is the reference used by the GBS for the biodiversity state?

▪ MSA = 100% refers to an “undisturbed” ecosystem (no historical baseline).

▪ Note that it is different than the reference in the context of a company’s footprint computation which refers to the biodiversity state at the beginning of the evaluation period.

❑ Can a desert and a tropical forest both reach a MSA of 100%?

▪ Yes but in the future we consider introducing weightings to take into account biome’s species richness and abundance.

❑ Does the GBS consider that transforming a natural forest into intensive agriculture has the same impact in Cambridge and in the Atlantic forest?

▪ Yes but in the future we consider introducing weightings to take into account ecosystem’s scarcity and vulnerability.

PAGE 21

FAQ

❑ Does the GBS take into account upstream and downstream impacts?

▪ At the moment upstream impacts are accounted for. The objective is to also take downstream impacts into account.

❑ Has the MSA been measured trough ecological surveys?

▪ Pressure-impact relationships were derived from a meta-analysis of scientific articles which are all field-based ecological surveys. Then MSA values are generally computed based on those relations.

❑ Are the models and data underlying the GBS regularly updated?

▪ Yes. GLOBIO for instance is regularly updated, in average every 4/5 years.

❑ Does the GBS take into account marine biodiversity and invasive species?

▪ Not yet as we couldn’t identify suitable data.

PAGE 22

FAQ

❑ Are regulatory compensation measures taken into account in the GBS?

▪ The GBS is not a substitute for existing tools and approaches for applying the regulatory mitigation hierarchy sequence.

▪ The co-benefits of these measures for ordinary biodiversity can be assessed with the GBS, outside the mitigation hierarchy framework.

❑ Does the GBS also offer a qualitative assessment of the biodiversity performance of companies?

▪ Yes, the Biodiversity Footprint Assessments that the GBS will allow provide for a screening phase going beyond the impacts assessed with the GBS and a qualitative analysis phase.

FAQ

PAGE 23

A stepwise approach to use the best data

available

PAGE 24

Stepwise approach

The "Scope" concept allows to take into account

biodiversity impacts throughout the value chain


❑ Do you use the notions of Scope 1, 2, and 3 from the

GHG Protocol in your company?

❑ Are you using the Scope definitions of the Natural

Capital Protocol (NCP)?

Mentimeter

PAGE 27

Linkages between the default and refined

approaches

Illustration of the default approach for the

assessment of the footprint due to the

production of EUR 1M worth of wheat in France

The B4B+ Club

PAGE 30

The Business for Positive Biodiversity (B4B+)

Club

3 annual meetings

- 2 meetings of each workstream

- 1 plenary meeting

1 annual report through the broadcasting platform of the "Biodiversity and Economics

Mission" (MEB)

1 dedicated web page (in French): http://www.cdc-biodiversite.fr/laction-volontaire/en-savoir-plus-sur-le-club-b4b/

The Club contributes to the funding of the GBS’ technical development:

Yearly membership fee: 6 500 € (VAT excluded)

PAGE 32

The B4B+ Club in details

http://www.cdc-biodiversite.fr/laction-volontaire/en-savoir-plus-sur-le-club-b4b/

Members and partners of the B4B+ Club

PAGE 33

Value chain workstream

Members and partners of the B4B+ Club

PAGE 34

Finance

workstream

Partners

Companies and investors will be able to conduct

their own Biodiversity Footprint Assessments or to

work with assessor companies or rating agencies

PAGE 35

Companies

Assessor

companies

Data providers/

Rating agencies

Investors

Internal Biodiversity

Footprint Assessments

GBS

Invest in further

development

❑ Training:

▪ Level 1 (1d); interpret results and collect data

▪ Level 2 (2d): carry out an assessment

❑ Licenses: non-commercial and commercial use

❑ B4B+ Club Membership – includes one license

❑ Biodiversity footprint assessment service

The future deployment of the GBS

PAGE 36


❑ Do you think that your company might be interested in

joining the Club of Businesses for Positive Biodiversity

(B4B+ Club)?

Mentimeter

PAGE 37

GBS critical review committee

PAGE 38

❑ Objectives :

▪ Verifying the consistency and quality of the tool based on

its stated goals, scope and limits

▪ Suggesting improvements to the tool

▪ Assessing the consistency / relevancy with other existing

tools and public policies

The robustness and transparency of the tool are

reinforced by a GBS critical review committee

PAGE 39

❑ Operation:

▪ Secretariat provided by the French Office for Biodiversity,

supported by a technical assistance (Solinnen)

▪ Panel of ten independent experts covering GBS topics

▪ Stakeholder panel

▪ Production of documents by CDC Biodiversité

▪ Production of a final public report by the Committee

❑ Calendar: end of the review planned for the first half of 2020

The panel is independent from CDC Biodiversité

PAGE 40

Case studies - application of the GBS

PAGE 41

Vue d’ensemble des cas d’étude (déjà ou

prochainement) publiés

PAGE 42

GRTgaz

- Arc de

Dierrey

C/ Biodiversity

management &

performance

Business application

supported

1/ Public

policy

2/

Corporate

& portfolio

3/ Supply

options

4/ Product

& service5/ Project /

site

A/ Assessment / rating by

and for third parties with

external data

B/ + C/

B/ Internal

communication and

external disclosure

GRTgaz

- Arc de

Dierrey

Mirova – 6

companies

BNPP AM -

portfolio

Veolia -

VEDIF

Solvay –

Ferulic acid

Michelin -

Rubber

AFD –

Wolong

lake

Comparison of supply options for Solvay

PAGE 43

Solvay produces natural vanillin obtained by bioconversion of ferulic

acid, a natural organic compound found in rice bran.

This rice can be sourced from various suppliers/ and locations

As of now, Solvay sources its rice in Japan. On the long run, the

objective is to understand and measure the biodiversity footprint of the

various supply options in order to test different suppliers

Solvay - Business Case: introduction

• Dynamic footprint for Japan is

the smallest with 3 MSAm²/ton,

almost 4 times less than the

world average mix (11

MSAm²/ton)

• 2 main patterns: ➢ For countries where pressures

from land conversions are expected to remain low (Japan or USA), main driver is climate change

➢ For countries where pressures from land conversions are expected to be high (Vietnam, Myanmar…), spatial pressure is the main driver

Solvay - Dynamic footprint per ton and pressure

breakdown varies significantly among supply options

Source: GBS calculations, November 2018

Solvay – land conversion forecast varies greatly

among countries

Source: GLOBIO

Solvay – A expected, for static footprint yield is the

main driver

• Yield is the main driver for

static footprint

➢ United states static footprint

(1,100 MSAm², yield=8,5

t/ha) is 2,8 times smaller than

Thailand’s (3000 MSA.m²,

yield=3,0 t/ha), inline with

yields ratio

• Results are consistent with

ecoinvent


Footprint of a listed equity portfolio for BNP

Paribas Asset Management

PAGE 48

Case study – assessing the footprint of 5

businesses in a listed equity portfolio (1/2)


Case study – assessing the footprint of 5

businesses in a listed equity portfolio (2/2)


PAGE 50

GBS demo

PAGE 51

Towards a common standard for biodiversity footprint – work

with ASN Bank, ACTIAM and Finance in Motion and the

Aligning Biodiversity Measures for Business collaboration

PAGE 52

❑ Aligning Biodiversity Measures for Business (ABMB) is a major collaboration that brings together all the developers of corporate biodiversity measurement tools known internationally

❑ Objective: to converge from a technical point of view on these subjects, in order to allow companies to have a common vocabulary and to have compatible and coherent tools for different uses

❑ Deliverables:

▪ Assessment of biodiversity measurement approaches for businesses and financial institutions (Lammerant 2019)

▪ An information document for the Convention on Biological Diversity

Aligning Biodiversity Measures for Business

PAGE 53

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/biodiversity/business/news-and-events/news/news-182_en.htm

❑ A protocol providing a common conceptual framework on

accounting for biodiversity impacts

❑ Very promising initiative, the first consultation phase of

which ended in August

Biological Diversity Protocol

PAGE 54

❑Global Biodiversity Score: a tool to establish and measure

corporate and financial commitments for biodiversity – 2018

technical update (2019)

❑Common ground in biodiversity footprint methodologies for the

financial sector – CDC Biodiversité, ASN bank, ACTIAM,

Finance in Motion (2018)

❑Global Biodiversity Score: measuring a company’s biodiversity

footprint (November 2017)

PAGE 55

Learn more

http://www.mission-economie-biodiversite.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/N14-TRAVAUX-DU-CLUB-B4B-GBS-UK-WEB.pdfhttp://www.mission-economie-biodiversite.com/publication/1833http://www.mission-economie-biodiversite.com/downloads/biodiv2050-outlook-no-11/

Antoine Cadi

Directeur Recherche et Innovation

Mail:

[email protected]

Tél. : +33 (0)1 80 40 15 16

Mobile : +33 (0) 6 21 63 18 00

Joshua Berger

Chef de projet B4B+

Mail:

[email protected]

Tél. : +33 (0)1 80 40 15 41

Mobile : +33 (0) 6 21 86 16 81

gbs a tool to assess the of businesses and financial assets · gbs assessments by objectives and by...

Documents