Unlocking the biodiversity-climate nexus

The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation (FfB) has published this guide for financial institutions on how to manage the biodiversity-climate nexus in their investments and loans. The guide has been drafted by members of a sub-group of the FfB Foundation's Impact Assessment Working Group for Banks, Insurers, Asset Managers and Asset Owners. The paper outlines the synergies and trade-offs between climate and nature from a sample of investment/lending solutions that are, today, key to solving the climate and nature crises we face: agricultural solutions, alternative energy sources, circular economy and nature-based (NbS) solutions. 

Its five key recommendations for financial institutions are:

• Financing solutions that generate synergies for the biodiversity-climate nexus and those that minimise offsets (e.g. R+D, start-ups, innovation);
• Identify and prioritize sectors with a high impact on biodiversity and climate;
• Collaborate with businesses on important linkage-related issues by leveraging relevant and existing frameworks;
• Establish sectoral policies that take into account the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and climate.
• Integrate biodiversity into climate goals, policies and reports.