If it is difficult to set worldwide standards for carbon and climate reporting, then for biodiversity it appears even harder.

As well as being more difficult to measure, it is by definition unique to each area of land, sea or forest, making solutions such as offsetting a trickier prospect. Not to mention the fact it’s had far less attention from regulators and investors.

The Taskforce on Nature-related Disclosure (TNFD) has its work cut out in incorporating different geographical regions’ approaches to taking biodiversity into consideration in investment decisions – if they have an approach at all.

In Asia and the UK, government schemes and regulatory standards are paving the way for investors to measure biodiversity, portfolio managers in those regions tell us.

But in the US, Alliance Bernstein’s Salima Lamdouar says regulation is behind, and in parts of Africa, where “nature is very real”, FSD Africa’s Mark Napier explains the take-up of biodiversity frameworks is unclear.

That said, across the world, investors are creating tools to measure biodiversity and set performance indicators linked to natural capital.

Read the full comment in ESG Clarity’s May 2022 digital magazine.