Providing an annual assessment of the biodiversity impacts of corporates, financial institutions, and sovereign issuers, Iceberg Data Lab's Corporate Biodiversity Footprint (CBF) tool allows financial institutions to assess the biodiversity impact of their investments.

Developed in conjunction with environmental consultancy I Care, the CBF evaluates the impact generated from the products purchased or sold by companies throughout their value chain. It models impact on biodiversity according to what the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) declares the most material environmental pressures.

"We developed the CBF to support companies' efforts in having a quantitative solution to appraise their portfolios' impact on nature," said Matthieu Maurin, CEO of Paris-based Iceberg.

"It has since been used by multiple top-tier asset managers in their reports and publications (such as BNPP AM, Mirova and Axa IM) or integrated into financial products (such as the indexes launched by Euronext or Solactive), showing the adequacy of our solutions to serve demanding clients' needs."

A biodiversity impact score is assigned by the CBF based on the Mean Species Abundance (MSA) metric. It is a biodiversity metric that expresses the average relative abundance of native species in an ecosystem compared with their abundance in an ecosystem undisturbed by human activities and pressures. It generates a result that reflects the annual biodiversity footprint of a company along the value chain of its activities.

"Meets a need and is very timely with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). I like the whole value chain approach and inclusion of four key indicators," said one Environmental Finance Sustainable Company Awards judge.

Another commented that CBF was "an excellent tool that will enable corporates across different sectors and geographies to begin to measure and understand their biodiversity impact and then act to reduce negative impacts and implement management practices to help regenerate biodiversity".