Global Nature Fund | Biodiversity protection in companies

We protect biodiversity. To this end, we network and advise companies from various sectors on how they can better protect biodiversity along their supply chain and firmly anchor biodiversity protection in their strategy.

If it is missing, the basis of our economy is missing: biodiversity. It is indispensable for life on earth and yet it is increasingly endangered by human activity and our economic system. According to IPBES, one million animal and plant species are currently threatened with extinction, and with them the functioning of ecosystems. So how do we manage to make companies and business associations biodiversity-friendly and channel capital into the transformation?

“UBi – Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt” offers a joint forum for business and nature conservation associations with the aim of identifying strategies and courses of action towards more biodiversity-friendly business practices through dialog, networking and consultation.

We are currently active in the following sectors as part of the project:

Food(www.food-biodiversity.de)
DIY stores
Textile
Plants & Flowers
Tourism
Finances

Our subject areas:

The Global Nature Fund, the Lake Constance Foundation and the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) are developing biodiversity assessments and measures (“Biodiversity Checks” and “Biodiversity Action Plans”) with five sectors in cooperation with associations. To this end, we test the checks with 14 companies from the textile, DIY, food, tourism/catering and chemicals sectors. The checks also help companies to better prepare for the materiality analysis of the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the ESRS E4 reporting standard. Findings from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTN) are also incorporated into the development of the checks.
Global Nature Fund and Lake Constance Foundation organize an exchange of the most important standard setters / certifications in the ornamental plant and textile sectors and discuss biodiversity criteria for improving the standards.
Our lighthouse projects on company premises with the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB e.V.) and the work of the Food for Biodiversity association show how companies can be effective both in their own operations and in the supply chain.
Our biodiversity management guidelines provide guidance on how to better integrate biodiversity into corporate strategy and supply chains: https://www.unternehmen-biologische-vielfalt.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/EMAS_Broschure_Deutsch_2023.pdf
For the financial sector, the Global Nature Fund, together with the Association for Environmental Management and Sustainability in Financial Institutions (VfU), is developing recommendations for biodiversity criteria for use in the lending and borrowing business, compiling information on relevant tools for biodiversity management and creating networking and exchange opportunities on the topic of biodiversity for financial market players.

Our project partners Biodiversity in Good Company, DIHK Service GmbH & the CSCP also organize conferences and online dialogue formats, as well as the website www.unternehmen-biologische-vielfalt.de