Why do we need a biodiversity-focused taskforce?

As explained in the main landing page, biodiversity loss endangers ecosystemic services, which threatens both society and businesses that depend on them, and in turn investors and insurers that rely on a well-functioning economy.  

In 2019, we co-drafted with the WWF the recommendations laid out in the Into the Wild – Integrating nature into investment strategies report. This report was launched during the G7 ministerial meeting, in May 2019. It was the first time that a global institutional investor and insurer and an international environmental NGO explored together the consequences of biodiversity loss.

The report raised awareness on biodiversity loss and its economic financial impacts. It presented several recommendations, including a call to create a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) with the ambition to create the conditions to transition towards protection, restoration and promotion of biodiversity. Financial institutions have an important leadership role to play in supporting awareness and decision taking around biodiversity loss. Achieving meaningful change, however, requires a broad-based coalition gathering the full spectrum of actors that are part of the issue and of the solution. This is why we called for an open dialogue among private and public sectors, including policymakers, with the objective to promote cross-sectorial and international engagement.

The TNFD Informal Working Group

Following this call, AXA and the WWF entered into a long-term partnership focused on biodiversity, including a dedicated effort towards crafting the TNFD. We have engaged stakeholders on the TNFD proposal – several governments, multiple financial institutions, private sector corporations, etc, which led to the 2020 creation of the Informal Working Group, designed to create the TNFD 

In June 2021, the TNFD formally launched to widespread support from financial institutions, corporates, governments and civil society. The G7 Finance Ministers and G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap have endorsed the TNFD. The G20 and G7 Environment and Climate Ministers have also recognised the establishment of the TNFD. Other individual leaders have also endorsed TNFD, including Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance; UN Secretary General António Guterres, President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson. 

AXA is a current member of the launched TNFD. Its members include both financial institutions and corporates. It is developing an industry standard to identify and mitigate impacts, dependencies and risks related to nature. A beta framework was released in March 2022. Testing and refinement will continue until mid-2023 in consultation with key knowledge partners. AXA is a member of the Metrics and Targets Working Group and is actively working with other members to identify the best existing approaches. TNFD membership also provides AXA with access to best practice on identifying and mitigating biodiversity-related risks. 

While biodiversity loss and its main drivers are well documented, the quantification of business impacts on biodiversity is still a relatively new field. The beta version of the TNFD aims to provide guidance for companies and investors to understand biodiversity-related dependencies and impacts that organizations may experience and, biodiversity-related risks and opportunities related to their activities. AXA has been working with peers to accelerate this work, as a member of the TNFD, and in partnership with other asset managers to develop appropriate metrics. AXA continues to engage with peers and other key stakeholders in the TNFD Metrics and Targets Working Group to develop further guidance for all key stakeholders. 

We are finally seeing biodiversity finance becoming mainstream thanks to the launch of the TNFD. The TNFD is consistent with strong action at the COP15 for biodiversity. It is essential to achieve the adoption of a Kunming Agreement that will reverse biodiversity loss through resolute public-private collaboration to align business models with nature-based solutions.

Biodiversity is no longer the next frontier of sustainable finance: it is happening now.