On the 5th of July, the ‘Dependencies’ part of the PBAF Standard was launched. This part of the Standard provides guidance on the steps in a dependency assessment and includes PBAF requirements and recommendations for financial institutions and data providers. The results of a dependency assessment can feed into the ‘Evaluate’ step of TNFD’s LEAP approach (Locate-Evaluate-Assess-Prepare) and into CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) disclosures. Input to the Standard was provided by the PBAF Working Group ‘Asset Management’ and feedback on the draft was provided by PBAF partners and the PBAF Sounding board.
A one-hour webinar was organised in which the new part of the Standard was explained and guest speakers from Rabobank and UNEP-WCMC shared their experiences and insights. The webinar was moderated by Justine Bolton, Carbon and Biodiversity Specialist at FirstRand Group and PBAF Board member. Gabriel Bianconi from Rabobank shared the bank’s experiences with the assessment of dependencies and impacts. Alena Cierna from UNEP-WCMC briefly explained the ENCORE knowledge base and provided an update on the SUSTAIN project in which the ENCORE knowledge base is further improved, and on the Ecosystem Integrity Index.
The recording of the meeting is posted on the PBAF website. The PBAF Standard ‘Assessment of Dependencies on ecosystem services’ can be downloaded here.
Other parts of the PBAF Standard, including the Biodiversity Footprinting Standard, will be updated later this year.
