PRI publishes guide on nature for asset owners

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has published a guide on nature for asset owners as part of its collaborative stewardship initiative on nature and biodiversity.

The guide comes as the group announced last year it was convening a group of investors who will use their voice and influence to drive positive outcomes for nature.

Nature is essential to achieving net zero climate targets and has the potential to provide a third of the solutions required by 2030 and further build systemic resilience, a PRI spokesperson said.

The reversal of biodiversity loss also presents new opportunities amounting to more than $10trn of economic value which could potentially be generated through solutions with a positive impact on nature.

“Nature provides ecosystem services, which benefit businesses and society. It is estimated that $58trn of economic value generation, more than half of the world’s total gross domestic product, is either moderately or highly dependent on nature. Investors’ ability to optimise risk-adjusted returns depend on, and impact, nature,” said the PRI.

The aim of the PRI’s programme of activities on nature is to align investor action with the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including contributing to halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Mobilisation of finance across all sources, including through the alignment of financial flows, is needed to address the $4.1trn finance gap in nature by 2050.

Institutional investor guide

Components of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework most relevant to institutional investors include:

• alignment of all global financial flows with the goals and targets of the framework;
• asking large and transnational companies and financial institutions to assess and disclose their risks, dependencies, and impacts on biodiversity;
• promotion of sustainable agriculture, with phasing out of $500bn of harmful subsidies on nature across sectors;
• mobilisation from all sources of $200bn per year by 2030 to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including through blended finance and private sector incentives for biodiversity investments.

PRI Nature programme

PRI activities intend to support the alignment of financial flows with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework through three broad categories of action, which includes capital allocation, stewardship, and policy engagement.

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