NWB Bank shares its approach to biodiversity together with seven other financial institutions

Together with seven other Dutch financial institutions, NWB Bank has published a paper on the relationship between biodiversity and the financial sector. In the paper, we describe our approach to curb the loss of biodiversity.

Risks and impact

The paper, entitled Biodiversity; Opportunities & Risks for the Financial Sector, addresses two important questions: how financial institutions can be affected by risks arising from the loss of biodiversity, and how they can have a positive impact on the preservation and restoration of biodiversity. For example, failing ecosystems can lead to credit risks for banks. This occurs when natural resources are rendered inaccessible and the production processes that rely on them are disrupted as a result. Preserving and restoring biodiversity requires a major shift towards investments that support these activities, and in this respect financial institutions can play a key role.

Practical approach

There is growing awareness, as is the case with climate change, that rapid action must be taken to curb the loss of biodiversity. In order to address the importance of biodiversity for financial institutions, a working group we set up under the auspices of the Sustainable Finance Platform. NWB Bank is the sponsor of this working group that further consists of Actiam, APG, ASN Bank, a.s.r., FMO, Rabobank and Robeco together with the Dutch Ministry of Nature and Food Quality and the Erasmus Platform for Sustainable Value Creation. The working group is headed by Lidwin van Velden, Chair of the Managing Board of NWB Bank. We have combined our knowledge to produce a paper in which each institution also gives specific examples of how biodiversity is integrated biodiversity into their organisation and activities.

DNB Governing Board member and chair of the Sustainable Finance Platform Frank Elderson: “The loss of biodiversity is one of the greatest and most urgent challenges of our time. This paper provides financial institutions with the very latest insight into the steps they can take to manage the financial risks arising from the loss of biodiversity. The eight institutions behind this paper go even one step further by actively striving to preserve and restore biodiversity. They offer concrete examples for those wishing to follow in their footsteps.”

About the Sustainable Finance Platform

The Sustainable Finance Platform is a cooperative venture of the Dutch Association of Insurers, the Federation of the Dutch Pension Funds, the Dutch Fund and Asset Management Association, the Dutch Banking Association, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Sustainable Finance Lab, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets and De Nederlandsche Bank. The aim of this platform, set up by DNB in 2016, is to promote and raise awareness for sustainable funding in the financial sector. Twice a year, the Platform members meet to discuss the new and ongoing sustainability initiatives in the Dutch financial sector. The Platform's working groups also concentrate on various themes.

Click here for more information on the Platform and its working groups.