Biodiversity Reporting

Corporations are becoming more aware of the detrimental effects of climate change and environmental degradation. As the private sector comes to terms with its role in climate change and takes responsibility to act in light of it, we have seen sustainability reporting become a tool for businesses to take accountability for their contributions to environmental degradation, be transparent about these impacts, and also to show their commitment to acting more sustainably. With increased legislation regarding sustainability reporting and transparency, most of the private sector is aware of or participates in the sustainability reporting system. In recent months, biodiversity reporting, in particular, has become a newer and increasingly important component of the broader sustainability reporting scheme. WWF estimates that in the last 50 years, up to 60% of wildlife has been lost for various reasons, but the human footprint is significant. Biodiversity loss at scales such as what we are currently seeing can have devastating impacts on our planet - ecosystems will collapse, our current resiliency capabilities towards climate change will diminish, and we can see cascading effects in our everyday lives too. Biodiversity reporting requires companies to measure and disclose their impacts on biodiversity and list the impacts that a changing environment can have on their operations. Companies can disclose their efforts towards mitigating and/or adapting to the changing biodiversity, in addition to any efforts that the company is taking to offset their impacts. Many of the companies that have acknowledged that biodiversity is material to their operations have included specifics on their conservation efforts, which today represents the bulk of the biodiversity-related reports that companies are releasing, these are namely the positive impacts to biodiversity. An example of a positive impact can be an agriculture company disclosing their renewable agriculture practices or projects.

Biodiversity reporting is crucial for companies given the increasing expectations from both investors and broader stakeholders that companies transition to more sustainable practices. By engaging in biodiversity reporting, a company is able to demonstrate their commitment to improving their actions with regards to biodiversity with the backing of data. This allows a company the opportunity to build a more trustworthy and transparent relationship with its stakeholders. By reporting on these issue areas, it is more likely that a company will be able to identify opportunities to improve upon their work and reduce their impacts, with the broader goal of reducing biodiversity footprint. This is all to say that the work we have done this semester to further research the current trends and status of corporate reporting on biodiversity, is especially important to do given the changes occurring with every month.