Global Biodiversity Score: 2018 technical update

Global Biodiversity Score : a tool to establish and measure corporate and financial commitments for biodiversity

Cahier de Biodiv’2050 n°14

shutterstock-photo-beautiful-spring-farmland-landscape-with-fields-groves-and-pond-aerial-view-1170457513_HD

Sommaire de la publication

1.Context
1.1 Brief history and introduction
1.2 The stars are aligned for the mainstreaming of biodiversity footprinting
1.3 A tool connected to business realities thanks to the B4B+ Club 

2.Role of the Global Biodiversity Score in the biodiversity footprint landscape
2.1 The needs to measure the state of and impacts on biodiversity
2.2 Mapping of biodiversity footprint assessment tools
2.3 Focus of the Global Biodiversity Score and relationships with other tools

3.Update on methodological developments
3.1 Summary of methodological developments
3.2 Stepwise approach: use of the best data available
3.3 Perimeter and impacts throughout the value chain
3.4 Default assessments
3.5 From pressures to impacts – updates

4.Case studies
4.1 Michelin
4.2 Solvay
4.3 BNP Paribas Asset Management

 

 

5.FAQ
5.1 What is the reference used by the GBS for the biodiversity state?
5.2 Can a desert and a tropical forest both reach a MSA of 100%? 
5.3 Does the GBS consider that transforming a natural forest into intensive agriculture has the same impact in Cambridge and in an Atlantic Forest?
5.4 Does the GBS take into account upstream and downstream impacts?
5.5 Has MSA been measured through ecological surveys?
5.6 Are the models and data underlying the GBS regularly updated?
5.7 Does the GBS take into account marine biodiversity and invasive species?

CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTS
REFERENCES
APPENDIX

RÉSUMÉ

Global Biodiversity Score: a tool to establish and measure corporate and financial commitments for biodiversity

What are the options to reduce the onsite and value chain-related biodiversity impacts of a business? How can financial institutions assess the risks related to the biodiversity impacts of their activity and that of the businesses they finance? How can such information be incorporated into their risk management policy? Can businesses

set quantitative targets to reduce their impact on biodiversity as they do for

climate?

The Global Biodiversity Score (GBS) is a corporate biodiversity footprint assessment tool which seeks to answer these questions. It assesses the biodiversity impacts of economic activities across their value chain, in a robust and synthetic way. It is developed with the support of about 30 businesses and financial institutions gathered in the Business for Positive Biodiversity Club (B4B+ Club) and through collaborations with academics, NGOs and other corporate biodiversity footprint initiatives.

This 2018 update clarifies the role of the GBS compared to other tools under development, transparently describes the latest technical developments, shares preliminary results of road testing of the tool with businesses and provides a FAQ answering the most common questions about the GBS.

Édito

Anne Larigauderie (c)IPBES

Anne Larigauderie

Executive Secretary of IPBES