Biodiversity - Summary, presentation and additional material

We are looking back at the second “Breakfast Inspiration Session” with a focus on Biodiversity, held on the 23rd of May 2023 at the ASN Impact Investors office.

The workshop, organized by the NAB, the Impact Institute, the Dutch chapter of Impact for Breakfast and EVPA, was well attended by 50 professionals, including asset owners and managers, impact measurements’ experts and advisors. The objective of the workshop was to take a practical deep dive into Biodiversity from different perspectives; from emerging to developed markets; asset managers; asset owners; banks, and the ways each of them can make a positive contribution.

After a warm welcome from our gracious host, ASN Impact Investors, the Impact Institute discussed the various steps of the lifecycle of biodiversity investments and their framework for biodiversity impact measurements through data. Then Pensioenfonds Rail & OV outlined their journey to biodiversity investments and why biodiversity is important for institutional investors, and the investment opportunities to bring positive contribution. Triodos Investment Management then went on to discuss the system changes needed to have positive impact and showed real-life cases from both the Bank and the Investment Management activities; thereafter Triple Jump gave an overview of Triple Jump’s investment in biodiversity-rich areas and outlined the archetypes of investable companies. Lastly, ASN Impact Investors disclosed the benefits of investments in biodiversity sectors from a social, financial and impact perspective, highlighting the importance of focusing on sectors rather than in asset classes.

An insightful and extended Q&A session closed the workshop which brought up topics such as how to balance risk, return and impact; the role of blended finance; social and rights dimensions of nature protection; the limits and opportunities of existing biodiversity data and the sectors where opportunities for investments can be found, as regenerative organic agriculture.

Key takeaways:

$8.4 trillion in investments are needed by 2050 to finance solutions to fight climate change, loss of nature, and land degradation
There are more than 43,000 listed companies worldwide… 0.01% do not harm biodiversity
Blended finance, a combination of investments and non-financial support, is most needed in developing economies
The topic is complex and nascent: start investing for positive impact now, do not wait for the perfect indicator, otherwise you'll be too late and will not be able to keep up with upcoming regulations
Portfolios can be built with a balance of net-positive and biodiversity-improving investments optimized for target returns
Cooperation is key! Partnering with knowledge experts and blended finance structures are tools that can lower barriers to biodiversity investments

We are glad to provide a platform that supports this type of event for the impact investing community. We are very grateful again to ASN Impact Investors for hosting us and for the insightful contribution of our speakers, Arjan Udding, Toby Smith, Simona Kramer, Pjotr Tjallema, Mark van Doesburgh, and Karin van Dijk.

Download the presentations here.

Here’s a list of additional material related to the presentation:

1. Pensioenfonds Rail & OV “RAIL & OV ON THE WAY TO BIODIVERSITY”: why biodiversity is a relevant topic for institutional investors such as Rail & OV (in Dutch and English)

https://railov.nl/documents/838/Rail__OV_biodiversiteit_DEF.pdf

https://railov.nl/documents/899/Rail__OV_biodiversiteit_Engels.pdf

2. Pensioenfonds Rail & OV “RAIL & OV ON THE WAY TO BIODIVERSITY”: Summary (in Dutch and English)

https://railov.nl/documents/839/Rail__OV_biodiversiteit_samenvatting_DEF.pdf

https://railov.nl/documents/900/Rail__OV_biodiversiteit_samenvatting_Engels.pdf

3. ASN Impact Investors “Impact Report 2022” (in English)

https://beleggingsfondsen.asnbank.nl/nieuws-en-visie/impact-report-2022-asn-impact-investors-1.html