Curb biodiversity losses, $24T investors urge global firms

Investors overseeing $23.6 trillion of funds have kick-started a campaign to pressure 100 companies to ramp up the fight against biodiversity loss.

Axa Investment Managers, Robeco, the Church Commissioners for England, Storebrand Asset Management and 186 other participants in the Nature Action 100 initiative have written to companies demanding “urgent and necessary actions” to protect and restore ecosystems, according to a statement released Tuesday.

The targeted companies include BHP Group Plc, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Nestle SA, Bayer AG, Amazon.com Inc. and Unilever Plc. They were selected based on their market values and participation in industries ranging from mining, food and pharmaceuticals to chemicals and forestry that are considered vital to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.

The campaign seeks to “drive fresh global momentum around biodiversity,” Liudmila Strakodonskaya, ESG analyst at AXA Investment Managers, said in a statement.

Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Under a pact signed in December, almost 200 countries agreed to set aside 30% of land and sea for conservation by the end of the decade. Last week, a group known as the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures published guidelines to help businesses measure and disclose risks associated with nature loss.

In their letter, the investors pressed companies to urgently address several key goals such as minimizing negative impacts and setting science-based targets. NA100 said it will use third-party data to track the companies’ progress and the first report card will be published next year.

With investors united, target companies identified and the TNFD guidance in place, “we now have all ingredients to accelerate” corporate action on biodiversity loss, Peter van de Werf, head of engagement at Robeco, said in a statement.