ENV - Financial institutions explore approaches and tools to assess positive biodiversity impact

The Finance and Biodiversity (F&B) Community of the EU B&B platform and the Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation members gathered for an online workshop series, as part of their endeavour to contribute to positive biodiversity impact. The workshops explored how financial institutions can assess and enhance their nature financing and investments by sharing their experiences with relevant tools. Read on to see which tools were featured.

date: 12/02/2026

The online workshop series ran from April to June 2025 and highlighted the advancement and diversification of tools available to financial institutions for assessing their impacts and dependencies on nature. From footprinting models to ecosystem services, natural capital valuation tools and biodiversity metrics, the tools brought specific strengths and limitations to light. The tools examined during the workshop series included:

1) Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII)

2) Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD)

3) Two Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) frameworks, one integrating the Biodiversity Footprint for Financial Institutions (BFFI) and another using an impact valuation model

4) Natural Capital Valuation (NCV) model

5) The BiROFin project utilising the MAGNET general equilibrium model.

The sessions highlighted recurring themes: the importance of clear purpose-setting, the role of sufficiently robust data and valuation frameworks to support due diligence and risk analysis, and the need for integrated, complementary approaches as no single tool is sufficient on its own yet.

Overall, the workshop series highlighted the importance of methodological innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and capacity-building for scaling biodiversity finance. It also focused on operationalising the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework - particularly Targets 14,15, 18 and 19 - to align financial flows with biodiversity goals and to monitor and disclose biodiversity-related risks and dependencies.

The insights and conclusions from the workshop series will be included in the upcoming 5th edition of the Biodiversity Measurement Approaches Guide for financial institutions. You can find the 4th edition of this guide here.

Are you interested in joining the Finance & Biodiversity Community? Please get in touch: info@nextgreen.nl (Finance Workstream Lead under the EU Business & Biodiversity Platform) or register here indicating ‘Join F&B Community’.