Net positive effect on biodiversity in 2030

Long-term goal: net positive effect on biodiversity

We have set ourselves a positive long-term goal. A goal that we can work towards together with other organisations. ASN Bank itself – with less than two hundred people in one office – has almost no ecological footprint. But the savings and investments of our customers are in enterprises, countries and projects that do place a burden on biodiversity. And hence result in a loss of biodiversity.

We want to prevent any further loss of biodiversity and to contribute to a net gain in biodiversity. So that by 2030, we will actively contribute to the enhancement of wildlife in and outside the Netherlands. We express this in our goal:

Net positive effect on biodiversity as a result of all of our loans and investments by 2030

How we are working towards our goal

We are reducing the ecological damage from our loans and investments. At the same time we are going to boost biodiversity, for example by investing in wildlife conservation, sustainable energy and the circular economy. If we can add more to biodiversity than we take from it, we will have a positive impact on biodiversity.

What does this mean for you?

We already ensure that the damage caused to biodiversity by your savings and investments is kept to a minimum. However, the related ecological footprint is still negative. By 2030, your savings and investments with ASN Bank will no longer burden biodiversity and even have a positive impact at that time.

Broad collaboration

We are working towards our goal together with other parties. Experts share their thoughts on a scientific basis. The government shares its thoughts from the perspective of policy frameworks. And civil society organisations share their thoughts on putting the ideas into practice. We also get other financial institutions involved. After all, the change will be far greater if they, too, start measuring and addressing their impact on biodiversity. That is why our work focuses on collaboration, discussion and inspiration.

Groundbreaking report ‘Common Ground’

A concrete example of broad collaboration is the Common Ground in biodiversity footprint methodologies for the financial sector report that was presented at the COP14 meeting of the United Nations in Egypt in November 2018. Just as there is for climate, finding common ground is crucial for measuring impact on biodiversity as well.

This unique cooperation between a group of financials, developing a biodiversity footprinting methodology and striving to set out exactly that common ground, is a milestone on the way to standardising biodiversity metrics – not only for financials, but for businesses and governments alike.

In 2019 ASN Bank, together with consultant CREM and Pré Sustainability,  further developed their research on the topic of positive impacts on biodiversity and the financial sector. The research was financed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, as they foresee an increasing important role for financial institutions in the protection and improvement of biodiversity.

In 2020, members of The Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF) presented their first Common Ground Report on biodiversity impact assessment at the Nature for Life Hub in New York, part of the United Nations General Assembly. The report is an important step towards a harmonised biodiversity accounting metric for the financial sector and will contribute to the much-needed transformative change.

Documents

News about ASN Bank

• Conservation finance: Can banks embrace natural capital? - Euromoney (08 October 2019)