Synthesis and critical assessment of management tools to mainstream biodiversity in decision-making in the private sector

Most businesses depend on biodiversity, either directly or through their supply chains. Biodiversity provides critical resources on which businesses depend. In negatively impacting biodiversity, businesses risk losing these essential resources.

Financial organisations investing in such businesses may also be exposed to risk if the businesses they invest in negatively impact biodiversity. As a result, it has become more and more important for the private sector to demonstrate strong and improved performance on biodiversity.

In recent years, a sudden explosion of tools and approaches has emerged to help businesses measure their performance on biodiversity issues. However, these have developed independently and through a different mix of concerns, with no agreement or efforts to standardise these approaches. This has the potential to weaken their interest by companies, confused by a proliferation of initiatives.

More importantly, these tools are being developed separately from government discussions on setting international targets for biodiversity, and it is not clear how they can be used to contribute to achieving these targets.

This project addresses these issues by reviewing and comparing existing tools, how they are constructed, how they measure biodiversity performance, how and where they are being used by different businesses and how they contribute to achieving international targets for biodiversity. Through a literature review and interviews of tool developers, the project aims to shed light into how these tools can contribute to biodiversity conservation and where there is need for further research, and then communicate this into key UK and global policy discussions and frameworks.

Key products of this project will include: (i) An academic publication comparing the components and characteristics of the tools and how they relate to global frameworks; (ii) A policy brief recommending policymakers ways to ensure these tools can help in meeting biodiversity targets; (iii) A short report and video showing in a map how these tools are being used over key "biodiversity hotspots" in this world, and (iv) a webinar to disseminate results to key stakeholders through ISEAL's Evidensia platform. These products will contribute to current efforts and discussions on how to improve tools and the way they are developed and implemented to achieve real change in biodiversity performance in the private sector.