For any base, the log of 1 is 0 and the log of any value between 0 and 1 is a negative number. Biodiversity underpins ecosystem function and the provision ofecosystem services. Biodiversity, a contraction of biological diversity, means the abundance and variety of life on the planet. Simpson's reciprocal index: 1/D Minimum value: 1 Maximum value: # of categories b. Less attention has been paid to how legal business activities are fundamentally reliant on biodiversity to produce goods and services, and their contribution to its decline. The researchers found that the conservation restrictions were deemed by locals to have a positive impact on the forest and thus to have the potential to make a positive impact on health, via cleaner air, and to provide the basic materials for a good life by affecting water quantity. Investors can seek to drive positive biodiversity outcomes and reduce negative outcomes by encouraging their investees to implement the Mitigation Hierarchy, which guides users towards limiting the negative impacts on biodiversity from their activities. Mongabay’s requests for comment from Ambatovy were not returned. Rosales (2008) argues that “Although much uncertainty remains about individual species and ecosystems, it is well established that the overall impact of climate change on biodiversity has been and will be negative” (p.1410). Biodiversity. The PRI hosted a webinar on climate scenario analysis and the online PACTA climate scenario analysis tool. There are a small number of investor engagements with a specific focus on avoiding and minimising biodiversity impacts, and several investor engagements that focus on companies whose activities are known to impact biodiversity (such as through deforestation). Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth, and refers to biological variety in all its forms, from the genetic make up of plants an animals to cultural diversity. 4. Marc Robert (Water Asset Management Chair of WaterAid America) and Michael Alexander (Diageo) join the PRI’s Gemma James to explore how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues in company operations and supply chains affect investors and why investors should engage on the topic. damaging to the well-being of humans and other organisms and steps are being taken to eradicate Conservation & Society. Investors should engage with companies and data service providers to encourage the provision of more meaningful and consistent biodiversity data. The worldwide scale of funding for biodiversity and ecosystem services in 2010 was estimated at USD 51 to USD 53 billion per annum, of which USD 21 billion was spent in developing countries5. One strategy increasingly being adopted in order to mitigate the impacts on wildlife and the provision of ecosystem services are biodiversity offsets, in which a company “offsets” the effects of, say, building a mine in a rainforest by investing in conservation actions elsewhere — habitat restoration or investments aimed at slowing the rate of habitat loss in another area, for instance. However, worldwide, CBD estimated that there is a need for between USD150 and USD 440 billion per annum to meet the 2020 Aichi targets set by the CBD. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world with more than 90 percent of its citizens living on less than $2-a-day, per the World Bank, meaning rural Malagasy people are heavily reliant on natural resources and ecosystem services for subsistence purposes. Biodiversity loss has negative consequences on the climate. Social Value: The social value of biodiversity includes aesthetic, recreational, cultural and spiritual … A team of researchers led by Cécile Bidaud of Bangor University in the UK spent more than two years studying the impacts on local people of the conservation initiatives intended to offset the biodiversity impacts of the Ambatovy nickle mine in Madagascar, which is a partnership between three companies: Canada’s Sherritt International Corporation, Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, and South Korea’s Korea Resources Corporation. “Development activities initiated by Ambatovy include: plant nurseries, donations of seeds, fertiliser or livestock (sometimes of novel varieties for the area), dam construction to irrigate rice fields, and training in agricultural or livestock-raising techniques,” the authors write in the study. “Wild food is especially important during periods of local food shortage. Large industrial development projects such as hydroelectric dams, oil palm plantations, and mines have an unavoidable impact on the local environment, which in turn can have huge repercussions for biodiversity. More than half of the world’s gross domestic product (US$44 trillion) is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services – such as the provision of food, fibre and fuel – and the unprecedented loss of biodiversity places this value at risk.2. Biodiversity-related risks and opportunities are being assessed through a combination of in-house ESG methodologies and information from third-party data providers as part of ESG integration processes, while biodiversity filters are being applied to negative screening to exclude companies based on various criteria, including those exposed to biodiversity-related controversies. But Bidaud and team found that the conservation initiatives funded by offsets purchased on behalf of the Ambatovy mine can have significant negative impacts on local people, in terms of both standard measures of poverty and more subjective aspects of well-being. I will also discuss the causes related to climate. One … ²Includes cut, make, and trim (CMT) and washing and finishing. Several biodiversity policies and legislation exist and there are important international and regional frameworks under development. Avoided negative impacts on biodiversity resulting from investments in the production of energy or resources that replace energy or resources with a higher impact on biodiversity. There are also a small but growing number of funds and bonds with specific biodiversity objectives. Our EIN or tax ID is 45-3714703. It must be said that there is a sixth value which you might describe as the negative value, the unpleasant aspects of biodiversity in its relation to human beings. It has a role in ensuring the resilience of natural capital assets and securing them for the future. In order to measure the impacts on communities in the Ambatovy offset project sites, the researchers used qualitative methods, such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions, as well as quantitative methods, including household surveys. The idea of biodiversity is most often associated with species richness (the count of species in an area), and thus biodiversity loss is often viewed as species loss from an ecosystem or even the entire biosphere ( see also extinction ). Since P i is the proportion of a given category, its maximum value is 1 and its minimum approaches 0. High biodiversity value areas have features that provide essential ecosystems relied on by humans and animals, and they have an abundance of rare, vulnerable or endemic species and/or large areas of relatively intact natural habitat. functioning. Conversely, biodiversity positively impacts human health in a number of ways, although a few negative effects are studied. Conversely, taking action against biodiversity loss offers opportunities. secure all or a combination of carbon, water, and biodiversity services. Why do you take the negative of the sum(P i log[P i])? ... Biodiversity banking places a monetary value on biodiversity. Below is a massive list of value of biodiversity words - that is, words related to value of biodiversity. It is critical that institutional investors take action to halt the loss of biodiversity. Others are indirectly addressing biodiversity-related risk through the adoption of specific sector policies such as on palm oil and deforestation. Access to better biodiversity data, relevant data sets and the harmonisation of indicators will help investors identify and assess their portfolios’ biodiversity exposure. Source: Expert interviews; McKinsey analysis Our biweekly podcast delivering news & inspiration from nature’s frontline. What are the Principles for Responsible Investment? In 2010, the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to promote biodiversity offsets as a means for businesses to mitigate biodiversity issues associated with their development projects, and the IUCN approved a biodiversity offset policy at its World Conservation Congress earlier this year. Universal investors and asset owners working to deliver absolute returns should tailor their investment activities to manage biodiversity loss as a systemic risk, rather than just through individual holdings. Modelling biodiversity in agricultural landscapes 4. The loss of genes and individuals threatens the long-term survival of a species, as mates become scarce and risks from inbreeding rise when closely related survivors mate. Patrick Ranjatson of Madagascar’s University of Antananarivo, a co-author of the study, said that rural Malagasy people affected by biodiversity offset projects are not being properly considered by national and international decision makers: “People living around these biodiversity offset sites are very poor and have little voice politically, they’re needs and concerns therefore don’t get the attention they deserve.”.