CDC Biodiversité and Schneider Electric are proud to announce the publication of Schneider Electric's biodiversity footprint report at this week’s 10th annual National Conference on Biodiversity in France. This is the first time that the new "Global Biodiversity Score" tool is being used to calculate a company's biodiversity footprint across its entire value chain. Together, CDC Biodiversity and Schneider Electric urge companies to use the same tool and disclose the results. With this analysis, companies can identify primary levers for action to protect and restore biodiversity.
The Global Biodiversity Score measures how economic activities across a company’s value chain affect biodiversity and is an essential first step in implementing actions to reduce any negative impact. Maintaining biodiversity is critical to sustaining natural resources that support both ecological and economic prosperity.
“The crisis we are currently experiencing further highlights the urgency of combating the dynamics of biodiversity collapse by tackling its main drivers in order to move towards a more sustainable model of society. We are very proud to have completed the Schneider Electric Biodiversity Footprint Assessment with the Global Biodiversity Score and hope that it will be a source of inspiration for other companies. It is time to measure our end-to-end impacts in order to better reduce them,” said Marc Abadie, Chairman of CDC Biodiversité.
“Our environmental strategy has three key pillars: the fight against climate change, the acceleration of the circular economy, and the preservation of biodiversity and natural resources.”, explains Xavier Houot, Schneider Electric’s Senior Vice President and Chief Environment Officer. “Measuring impacts with the GBS allows us to set a course, deadlines, and priorities.”
The footprint shows greenhouse gas emissions are the major source of impact on biodiversity, followed by land use. Schneider's environmental strategy, and its commitment to carbon neutrality, has a considerable impact in limiting the loss of biodiversity. In addition, increasing the traceability of the supply chain will be key to better preserve biodiversity. Schneider Electric calls for the emergence of new traceability and certification schemes to provide information throughout the value chain on the origin and biodiversity impacts of resources.
Schneider Electric and CDC Biodiversité collaborated on two publications addressing the biodiversity predicament. In the first paper, Raise Corporate Biodiversity Game and Aim at No Net Loss, Schneider Electric and CDC Biodiversité invite all companies to define ambitious strategies to preserve and restore biodiversity. The editorial, co-signed with global coalition Business for Nature, invites companies to act.
“We cannot have a sustainable future for people and economies if we do not address nature, climate, and human health in an integrated way”, says Eva Zabey, Executive Director of Business for Nature. “Indeed, climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, while at the same time, biodiversity is part of climate solutions.”
CDC Biodiversité and Schneider Electric also teamed up to publish the detailed results of their biodiversity footprint, demonstrating the relevance and feasibility of such assessments. The Edito of this publication, Cosigned by Capitals Coalition calls for the adoption of the best transparency practices for transparency in extra-financial reporting.
“With the recent establishment of a global goal for nature which recognizes that we must be nature positive by 2030, we need more companies like Schneider Electric who used the Natural Capital Protocol, an internationally accepted framework, to apply the Global Biodiversity Score. It’s crucial that we now harmonize the work taking place within companies and move towards standardized and integrated approaches”, said Mark Gough, CEO of the Capitals Coalition.
To return to the Earth system’s safe operating space, Schneider Electric and most economic actors must reduce their biodiversity footprints, in collaboration with their value chains. The ambition is to align biodiversity strategies with the international agreement expected at the COP15 Biodiversity in 2021, towards "no net loss". Schneider Electric is already embedding biodiversity protection at the heart of its environmental strategy.
Principles of the Global Biodiversity Score - GBS
Built and tested with the support of around thirty companies and financial institutions united within the B4B+ Club, and thanks to collaborations with academics, NGOs and other initiatives to measure companies' biodiversity footprint, the Global Biodiversity Score makes it possible to assess the impacts of economic activities on biodiversity along their value chain, in a robust and synthetic manner.
The assessments carried out with the GBS are based on a recognized metric: the Mean Species Abundance or MSA, whose values vary from 0 to 100%, where 100% represents a pristine or intact ecosystem. The results are expressed in MSA.m2 (based on the average richness and abundance of the species present on one m²).
Replay of the GBS launch on September 22, 2020
