New Report: Tackling the biodiversity challenge – through collaboration
To consider how investors should think about biodiversity, Allianz Global Investors partnered with Reuters Events on a whitepaper exploring the conservation crisis – and the value of a sustainable approach to investing.
The deforestation of rainforests and bleaching of coral reefs are two vivid reminders of biodiversity loss, a crisis that is becoming increasingly urgent. The relative abundance of monitored wildlife declined by an average of 69% between 1970 and 2018, according to the WWF. To highlight this crisis further, Allianz Global Investors partnered with Reuters Events to produce a whitepaper exploring the implications for investors.
Biodiversity loss has diverse and immediate impacts on the economy. As the World Economic Forum states, 50% of global GDP is dependent on nature, though the reality of this figure may be much higher.
Importantly, in this paper we addressed how investors should think about biodiversity – both in terms of how it may pose a risk to companies in investment portfolios but also how investors can help fund solutions.
In common with many challenges around sustainability, progress depends on many stakeholders working together. Hence in addition to our sustainability analyst Mélissa Bourassi and Ludovic Subran, chief economist at Allianz, we invited contributions from several organisations offering their individual perspectives on the biodiversity challenge – from Ceres to the WWF. We thank them for their input.
Outlining the scale of the degradation crisis and biodiversity’s importance to climate change overall, the paper also explores how the topic is becoming an international priority – as we’ve seen with the recent COP 15 meeting. It provides practical guidance on how to integrate conservation risks into portfolios and concludes with a rallying call for investors to play their part in creating a net-positive future.