Business activities intersect with biodiversity and ecosystems at spatially explicit locations. The degree of impacts and dependencies of these activities are related to the characteristics of nature and its ecosystems at these localities. To measure this, THRIVE was developed.
Theurgency
After the Green Deal was introduced in Europe, many new regulations and policies regarding nature and biodiversity were established. One of the key regulations is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which took effect on January 5, 2023. The CSRD requires large publicly listed private sector companies to assess their material impacts, risks, and opportunities (IRO) related to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards.
Companies must follow the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) set by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG). There are twelve general ESG standards, including ESRS – E4, which specifically addresses biodiversity and ecosystems (Figure below).
Many companies face challenges in meeting these reporting requirements. To support them, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, in collaboration with KPMG, created THRIVE, a spatially explicit analysis platform. THRIVE qualitatively and quantitatively assesses the impacts, risks, and opportunities of private sector business activities on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Howwe work
THRIVE is currently under development. We use a general stack of biodiversity data, this one is always the same, see the infographic below.
Then we combine this with abiotic data, which is sector specific and will depend on the company and location in question. For this scoping part, we use an online tool (like ENCORE) to gather the abiotic data. This tool recognizes 271 different classifications of economic activities that to some extent require their own analysis to correctly report impact and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Measuringimpact
When impact locations have been selected we look at the three separate impact buffers (up to 10km) and what different types of land types (and land use) they intersect with. A location that only intersects with agricultural areas, for example, will have less negative impact on biodiversity than a location that intersects with key biodiversity areas and natural parks
Collaborationwith KPMG
KPMG and Naturalis Biodiversity Center joined forces in 2023 to enhance clients' understanding of biodiversity. KPMG's sustainability department, with over 150 experts and 30+ years of experience, assists clients in developing sustainability strategies, reporting climate objectives, and converting complex data into actionable insights. Naturalis, a leading biodiversity research institute dedicated to describing, understanding and preserving biodiversity, contributes extensive knowledge and data. The collaboration allows to better advise organizations and companies about their impact on nature and biodiversity.
Moreinformation
If your business is liable to CSRD reporting or you want to understand how to report or manage biodiversity impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities; we can help you with your assessment. Or if you have other questions about the concept of THRIVE to assess impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems you can contact us at thrive@naturalis.nl. Or contact the project leaders directly:
- Niels Raes (niels.raes@naturalis.nl)
- Koos Biesmeijer (koos.biesmeijer@naturalis.nl)