Hardwiring green: how banks account for biodiversity risks and opportunities

This article aims at providing better insight into the way in which banks currently deal with biodiversity in their business operations, what their underlying motivations are for doing so, and how the banking sector perceives biodiversity as a business risk or opportunity. Analysis of publicly available information telephone interviews and a questionnaire revealed that only five of the 50 banks have taken considerable steps to account for biodiversity risks and opportunities on an organizational level and within lending portfolios (scores higher than 67%). Most banks, however, remain at the starting grid, with scores to address biodiversity issues on a group or holding level and within lending products and services lower than 33%. In terms of risks related to biodiversity, banks believe that their sector is primarily exposed to reputational risk and, perhaps surprisingly, to credit risk. Motivations for banks to develop policies to account for biodiversity centre on reducing reputational risk and the wish to act ecologically responsible, while being able to differentiate from competitors is seen as a major business opportunity.