Investors stress on importance of biodiversity as much as climate change in their investment approach, according to Robeco

Name: Protesters cut off Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s COP15 speech
Uploaded: 2023-03-21T11:45:08.000Z
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Description: Protesters cut off Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s COP15 speech

Investors are becoming much more aware of the importance of biodiversity as part of the struggle against climate change, according to Robeco’s Global Climate Survey

Demand for impact funds and thematic funds related to biodiversity have seen a huge jump from a year ago

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Investors are increasingly paying attention to biodiversity as part of the shift to a low-carbon economy. Photo: Shutterstock

Martin Choi

Published: 7:45pm, 21 Mar 2023

Biodiversity is gaining importance with investors, with an increasing number saying it is important or central to their investment policy, and find the loss of nature as great a threat as climate change, according to a report by Dutch asset manager Robeco.

Investors in Asia-Pacific were most likely to become early adopters in terms of taking biodiversity-related issues into account in their analyses, to benefit from future regulations and policies, according to Robeco’s 2023 Global Climate Survey released on Tuesday.

“Investors are becoming much more aware of the importance of biodiversity as part of the struggle against climate change,” the report said. “By pointing to a positive impact from some of their investments, investors can demonstrate their commitment to biodiversity.”

The world needs to quickly pour more money into protecting and restoring natural ecosystems so that they can help humanity limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a report by the United Nations in December.

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Protesters cut off Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s COP15 speech

At the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal in December, a historic agreement was reached by over 190 countries to protect 30 per cent of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030. Around 17 per cent of terrestrial and 10 per cent of marine areas are currently protected.