Most of all business operations are based on environmental assets and biodiversity – directly or indirectly. Legislation regarding the use of natural resources is becoming increasingly demanding. By systematically assessing environmental impacts and utilising carbon handprint methodologies businesses can prepare for the risks associated with climate change and biodiversity loss. Proactive and foreshadowing work enables companies also to find competitive advantage and new business initiatives in nature positive actions.
Understanding and measuring nature impacts is not just a matter of corporate responsibility or managing of reputation, but an important part of an organization’s strategy and risk management. Nature impacts invariably involve business risks, which are most significant in sectors directly dependent on nature and its ecosystem services (such as agriculture, forestry, food and textile industries, energy production, and the construction sector). Often, reducing impacts and investing in regenerative business practices also opens opportunities in the form of new markets or entirely new services or products.
We utilise international and best-in-class standards (including SBTN and TNFD) for assessing nature impacts and the associated risks and opportunities. These standards provide widely accepted frameworks and support the implementation of corporate sustainability reporting or sustainability-related disclosures for the financial sector.
Business impacts on nature extend from raw material procurement to production, and all the way through to the end-use and recycling of products. These nature impacts are measured and verified through nature footprint calculations. The nature footprint is calculated using scientific databases and the organization’s accounting records. A pioneer in nature footprint calculation is the University of Jyväskylä, which has developed a calculation model that’s been used, for example, in calculating the nature footprint for the S-Group in Finland. We work closely with researchers from the University of Jyväskylä to implement the calculation methods for companies and to further develop methods for assessing nature impacts.
Reliable and comprehensive nature data forms the foundation for understanding, managing and reporting on nature-related risks and seizing opportunities. New and evolving data collection methods, such as satellite imagery and AI-based mapping as well as eDNA, continually open new possibilities for understanding and measuring biodiversity more comprehensively and effectively. We are actively developing methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity, and we provide companies with the best data sources for understanding nature impacts, setting scientifically grounded targets (SBTN), and investing in new and innovative business opportunities.
A materiality assessment is a central part of corporate responsibility work. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires large companies to conduct a double materiality assessment (DMA), which identifies the organization’s most significant sustainability themes. The assessment considers two perspectives: the company’s impacts on the environment and society, and the risks and opportunities that the environment and society pose to the company’s business. The identification and assessment of relevant sustainability themes are guided by the ESRS standards.
In a double materiality assessment, stakeholders play a major role, and the work typically includes stakeholder mapping and gathering their perspectives. The results of the assessment benefit companies beyond reporting; they also provide a broader foundation for impactful and business strategy-integrated sustainability work. Conducting the DMA is valuable even for smaller organizations not yet subject to CSRD reporting obligations. It prepares them to meet reporting requirements from supply chains and can also be used as a basis for developing a corporate sustainability strategy.
Composing a climate roadmap or a biodiversity strategy is usually the first step for any company when tangibly considering nature and impacts of business to nature. The purpose of a biodiversity strategy is to increase the knowledge on how biodiversity impacts business strategies and the possibilities businesses have in controlling the risks associated with biodiversity, as well as to find competitive advantages in protecting biodiversity. At best, a biodiversity strategy is closely linked to the overall business strategy and is part of the company’s risk management. It also supports the company’s investors, who increasingly demand that their investment targets align with biodiversity policies and report on the impacts, risks, and dependencies of their own operations (e.g. in accordance with the TNFD). We also support the integration of nature and climate work.
In the context of ecological compensation, the nature impacts caused by human activities are offset by creating equivalent nature benefits elsewhere. The party responsible for causing the nature impacts must always follow the mitigation hierarchy: first, avoid and reduce nature impacts, then, where possible, remedy the damage on site, and only as a last resort, compensate for the unavoidable remaining nature impacts. The voluntary process of ecological compensation and the criteria for compensation are regulated by the Finnish Nature Conservation Act. Compensation is carried out either by generating natural values or through conservation compensation. We support companies, municipalities, and landowners in mapping nature values, assessing impacts, and preparing legally compliant compensation plans.
Sustainability is not just compliance. Biodiversity loss and climate change involve serious, actual risks that, when realised, will shape the behaviour of consumers and business models in unprecedented ways. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are a good example of how drastic and rapid nature-related changes in the operational environment can be.
We help businesses to recognise, manage, and report the nature and climate risks associated with their business operations. Risks are typically categorised into physical risks (risks related to the availability or cost of raw materials), transition risks (such as changes in markets or legislation that impact financing and operations) and systemic risks (such as risks to the stability of the entire economic system).
Legislation on environmental claims and sustainability communications is becoming stricter, and consumers are demanding clear, truthful and evidence-based marketing to support their decisions-making. Sustainability can and should be communicated, but claims must be based on scientific evidence and high-quality, verifiable data. We assist organizations in generating the necessary data for effective sustainability communication and in planning their communication strategies. Using this data, green and sustainability claims can be made credibly and in compliance with the relevant regulatory and legislative requirements.
We are working together with a Finnish law firm, Laininen Law, on environmental marketing legal matters and other compliance services. Our partner for strategic sustainability communication and reporting is Miltton.
The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires businesses to follow a duty of care, meaning they are responsible for identifying, preventing, mitigating, and ceasing practices that result in negative impacts to environment and human rights. This duty specifies the level of understanding companies must have of their value chains and the steps they need to take to meet the required standards of diligence. Different sized companies face different sustainability obligations under this directive. We help companies to understand these duty of care requirements, identifying their environmental and human rights impacts, and providing practical assistance for fulfilling these obligations. Our specialised knowledge includes human rights issues related to indigenous communities.
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