SUSTAINABILITY OPEN DAY - Measuring & Reporting Impact on Natural Capital

Thursday 12 October 2023
9:30 am 11:00 am 09:30 11:00

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OPEN EVENT

Natural capital is intrinsically linked to the protection and preservation of biodiversity. The need to measure the impact on natural capital is becoming more and more urgent to preserve multiple ecosystems as well for its great potential in reporting and investments.

Since the launch of the European Green Deal in December 2019, the attention of European policy-makers around biodiversity has increased and crystallized in a number of key European initiatives, such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Law. Additionally, companies’ practices and management of biodiversity issues have rapidly become more numerous. However, while biodiversity has always been present in the ESG reporting discussion, several difficulties are present in measuring and reporting on it.

Currently, a new generation of regulations is focussing on measuring the environmental impact, therefore, quantifying the impact on biodiversity and ecosystems is a key topic for the success of new environmental legislation. The development of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) and of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”) include a specific reporting section on biodiversity and ecosystems (ESRS E4), which will be fundamental to preserve the status of 80% of the habitats in Europe considered in “poor condition”. However, ESRS E4 reporting section has been subject to a flexibility mechanism in the application, namely two years of phasing-in, due to the still ongoing process of identifying clear methods to quantify companies’ impact on biodiversity. Therefore, in the next months, this topic will be the focus of new legislative developments and measurement research.

Investors’ interest in natural capital is also on the rise, due to the high potential of this sector. However, difficulties to collect precise data on natural capital as well as a clear legislative framework to measure the financial effects are huge obstacles to overcome. The EU Taxonomy Delegated Act introduces some clarifications but the European atmosphere is evolving and understanding the key points is fundamental to be prepared for future challenges.

With the participation of companies, experts’ organizations, and policymakers, this online session will look at current challenges when it comes to measuring and reporting the impact on natural capital.

JOIN THIS SESSION TO:

Get an overview of the current EU policy frameworks on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Explore the main challenges in quantifying and reporting the impact on natural capital.
Learn more about investors’ perspectives on measuring the impact of natural capital.