Editorial
BIODIVERSITY
CONTENTS P4: In figures
Biodiversity in seven numbers
Despite the controversy over the world cup being staged in Qatar, when the football kicked off it proved a memorable tournament for the right reasons. It will be remembered for its shocks with Saudi Arabia beating even- tual champions Argentina, Japan overcoming Germany and Spain, Cameroon defeating Brazil, and Tunisia beating France. Then there was Morocco, who triumphed against Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their way to the semi-finals. That wasn’t expected. Morocco came to the world cup under the radar but made global headlines. People started talking about them. In a way, that’s similar to biodiversity. It’s always been there. We know it’s there, but now it’s giving us a reason to talk about it. What makes me say this? Well, at the end of each year we speak to the asset managers and consultants in our ESG Club to find out what they expect to be discussing with institutional investors in the year ahead.
In December, there was a noticeable trend with seven of the 10 man- agers I spoke to saying: “biodiversity”, up from three a year ago. So, why is it so important? Well, the natural world supports life on Earth. It feeds us, provides us with medicines, purifies the air, fights climate change and, if we look after it, could protect us from natural disasters and disease. From an economic perspective, around half of global GDP is believed to be dependent on nature. So, if nature does not function as it should, economies will struggle and, therefore, so will we. This issue has been eclipsed for years by concerns over climate change. But has widespread flooding and Covid highlighted the importance of protecting the ecosystem? With this in mind we decided to look at such a growing and impor- tant theme in greater detail. We invited institutional investors and fund managers along with a campaigner to discuss what investors need to know about factoring the natural world into their investment decisions.
Mark Dunne Editor
m.dunne@portfolio-institutional.co.uk
P5: The panel An introduction to those taking part in our discussion.
P6-17: The discussion A transcript of our roundtable focusing on how institutional investors could factor biodiversity into their portfolios.
P18-19: Biodiversity: risks and opportunities Aon’s Jennifer O’Neill looks at the steps investors need to take when tackling biodiversity loss.
P20-21: Biodiversity: why investors should care
Pictet and the Stockholm Resilience Centre explain why investors can no longer ignore the threat of biodiversity loss.
P22-25: Feature: a natural asset Why is biodiversity rivalling climate change as the big environmental issue for institutional investors?
February 2023 portfolio institutional roundtable: Biodiversity
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