34% of Professional Investors Are Interested in Building Biodiversity-themed Financial Products
Global sustainability tech platform, Clarity AI and impact data and analytics provider GIST Impact recently convened over 180 asset managers, wealth managers, and asset owners for a highly engaging virtual event, to discuss the crucial role of biodiversity in the investment landscape.
The virtual event shed light on the substantial commitment of financial institutions to incorporate biodiversity into their decision-making processes. Notably, the 140 signatories of the Finance for Biodiversity initiative collectively manage an impressive $20 trillion in assets. This signals a noteworthy upcoming shift within the industry; currently investments focused on biodiversity represent only $2.9 billion compared to the over $40 trillion associated with the broader ESG market.
When surveyed during the event, more than two-thirds of participants highlighted "building biodiversity-themed financial products," and "setting company strategy and targets using the TNFD framework" as the most important priorities on biodiversity, with each answer receiving 34% and 33% of the vote respectively.
Angel Agudo, Board Director and SVP of Product at Clarity AI, expressed enthusiasm about the distribution of the 140 signatories among countries in the Finance for Biodiversity initiative. Mr. Agudo highlighted France as a leading nation where this initiative has materialized into specific regulations. However, he also emphasized the positive global representation, including the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, and other regions. Agudo anticipates the continuous growth of global representation, with more individuals joining the cause from diverse geographies.
Mr. Agudo noted, “I believe that science is great for all of us, not only for the economy but also for our survival. The good thing is that we are seeing very positive traction in the market recognizing the importance of biodiversity. We are acknowledging that it deserves attention and creating products that address the challenge, identifying the right companies and policies to improve their impact on this dimension.”
Pavan Sukhdev, the CEO and founder of GIST Impact and former president of WWF International, emphasized the importance of credible biodiversity impact data and how GIST Impact and Clarity AI’s work is meeting that need, revealing that together they are enabling access to extensive data on over 13,000 of companies. This data empowers participants to assess and compare nature-related impacts and dependencies within their specific sectors.
Mr. Sukhdev provided an example for those interested in creating biodiversity-themed products, suggesting that understanding the Potentially Disappearing Fraction (PDF) of species and its changes over time can serve as a valuable initial indicator for creating an index or deciding what to incorporate into an ETF.
On data availability and estimation capabilities, Mr. Sukhdev said, “While companies may not always disclose all the necessary information regarding their emissions, waste, and pollution, our approach allows us to provide estimates and calculate the Potentially Disappearing Fraction (PDF) of species as a measure of biodiversity impact. With this, we can compare impacts, for example, between similar chemical factories in France and across Europe.”
On AI, Mr. Agudo added, “Ensuring the quality of data is crucial, and technology can help with systematic data validation. Using reliability algorithms and models, data points can be challenged and put into context across time, industry benchmarks, and other indicators. Outliers can be easily identified, and engagement with companies can help improve their disclosure and data accuracy. For users managing portfolios composed of multiple companies or funds, technology facilitates data aggregation from asset-level data to portfolio-level data. This automation enables users to manage portfolios effectively and make informed decisions about including or excluding companies based on their impact and risk profiles related to biodiversity.”
Clarity AI recognizes the ongoing efforts and acknowledges the importance of measuring and disclosing corporate impacts on biodiversity. The company remains dedicated to providing tools, data, and methodologies to empower investors to incorporate biodiversity considerations in a meaningful and impactful manner into portfolios, goal-setting and reporting.
About Clarity AI:
Clarity AI is a sustainability technology platform that uses machine learning and big data to deliver environmental and social insights to investors, organizations, and consumers. Clarity AI’s capabilities are an essential tool for end-to-end sustainability analysis related to investing, corporate research, benchmarking, consumer ecommerce, and regulatory reporting. As of June 2023, Clarity AI’s platform analyzes more than 70,000 companies, 420,000 funds, 201 countries, and 199 local governments, which represents more breadth than any other player in the market. One way Clarity AI delivers on its mission to bring societal impact to markets is by ensuring its capabilities are delivered directly into clients' workflows through integrations with partners like BlackRock - Aladdin, Refinitiv an LSEG business, BNP Manaos, CACEIS, and Simcorp. Additionally, Clarity AI's sustainability insights reach more than 150 million consumers across more than 400,000 merchants on the Klarna platform. Clarity AI has offices in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, and its client network manages tens of trillions in assets and includes companies like Invesco, Nordea, BlackRock, Santander, Wellington, and BNP Paribas.
About GIST Impact
GIST Impact is a leading impact data and analytics provider that has been measuring and quantifying corporate impacts for more than 15 years.
GIST Impact’s historic and deep expertise in the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity (TEEB) enriches its clients' knowledge of their impacts and dependencies on nature.
With a team of 100+ scientists, engineers, data scientists and ecological and environmental economists, GIST Impact codifies this experience within its market-leading impact platforms and datasets, covering 12,800+ companies with geographically precise, time-series data.
GIST Impact works with pioneering companies across all sectors and with investors representing over $8 trillion in assets under management.
GIST Impact also partners with some of the world's largest ESG data providers, business networks, and fintech platforms to enable impact measurement across global markets.
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Contact information
Clarity AI Media Contact
Edelman Smithfield
clarityai@edelmansmithfield.com
GIST Impact Media Contact
Alexandra Downs
alexandra@gistimpact.com
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