Biodiversity or climate change: do we have to choose?
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Although not yet the subject of common objectives on the same scale as those developed solely for the fight against climate change, the preservation and restoration of biodiversity are nevertheless key issues for the very survival of the human race. A critical challenge therefore lies in identifying the economic activities that make a positive contribution to the protection of biodiversity and the protection of the climate, and ensuring that they are financed so that they can develop rapidly over the next decade.
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity believes that Earth is on the verge of a sixth “mass extinction” and the first attributable to mankind. 1 million species are already threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, the IPCC has once again sounded the alarm that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have exacerbated global warming at an unprecedented pace. The average global surface temperature has risen by 1.1°C since the pre-industrial era and the 1.5°C threshold is likely to be reached in the early 2030s, with serious consequences, in some cases irreversible, on ecosystems and populations.
These dual crises of climate change and biodiversity, each of which poses a threat to human survival, are closely intertwined. Climate change itself is one of the causes – all of which are connected to human activities – of the collapse in biodiversity. While these crises are mutually reinforcing, they can also be jointly resolved. For example, activities that are harmful to biodiversity, such as deforestation, are also harmful to the climate. Conversely, initiatives for preserving and restoring biodiversity help combat climate change.
What approach should be taken to companies in transition ?
Some companies whose activities may strongly impact climate and biodiversity may also provide solutions, particularly in the agriculture, forestry, and utilities sectors. It would therefore be inappropriate to take an all-inclusive or black-and-white approach to such companies.
As an investor, our role is therefore to use the full arsenal at our disposal to help these companies in their transition through: exclusion policies, the allocation of our investments as well as shareholder and collaborative engagement.
Find out more about LBP AM's Climate and Biodiversity strategies in the article below.
Unlocking the future : biodiversity investing for a sustainable world
