a.s.r. provides insight into biodiversity strategy

A group of eight Dutch financial institutions provide insight into how they try to counter the loss of biodiversity. Besides a.s.r., these are: Actiam, APG, ASN Bank, FMO, Rabobank, Robeco and NWB Bank. They share their strategy in a joint paper and examine the relationship between biodiversity and the financial sector.

In the financial sector, there is a growing awareness that, as in the case of climate change, rapid action is needed to counter the loss of biodiversity. To address the importance of this for financial institutions, Actiam, APG, ASN bank, a.s.r., FMO, Rabobank, Robeco and NWB Bank, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Erasmus Platform for Sustainable Value Creation, have set up a working group under the DNB Sustainable Finance Platform.

They have incorporated their joint knowledge in a paper that also gives specific examples of how the working group members have integrated biodiversity into their organisation and activities. a.s.r., for example, invests in VanderSat. This company uses public satellite data on weather and soil conditions. Better data, obtained through extensive analysis, can help increase food production efficiency everywhere, but in dry and vulnerable terrains in particular. This, in turn, will give small farmers worldwide more financial stability.

The paper, ‘Biodiversity; Opportunities & Risks for the Financial Sector’, provides insight into two issues: how financial institutions may be affected by risks resulting from a loss of biodiversity, and how they can make a positive impact on the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. Failing ecosystems, for example, may create credit risk for banks. This happens when natural resources become inaccessible, as this disrupts the production processes that depend on them. The conservation and restoration of biodiversity require a major shift of investments towards activities dedicated to these goals, and financial institutions can play an important role in this.

You can read the press release via the download (pdf, Dutch).