MSCI is set to distribute biodiversity data and analytical tools from NatureAlpha, an AI and data-driven platform providing specialist insights into nature footprints and risks.
This, MSCI said, will help its clients better identify their exposure to higher-impact companies from a biodiversity risk perspective, better align companies’ activities with the Global Biodiversity Framework and provide enhanced reporting in line with Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) as it evolves.
Vian Sharif (pictured), founder of NatureAlpha and member of the ESG Clarity Committee, commented: “Our collaboration with MSCI comes at a crucial moment for biodiversity and nature with investors driving demand for data which asset managers can integrate into workflows.”
Last December at COP15 in Montreal leaders agreed the Global Biodiversity Framework, which Sharif said has provided an important tailwind to conversations regarding the role the investment community can play in protecting nature and biodiversity and how related material risks can be measured.
“With over half of the world’s GDP dependent on nature,” Sharif continued, “financial exposure to risks from nature loss is significant and accountability is greater than ever. We are proud to work with such an established and credible collaborator and look forward to enhancing our methodologies to provide biodiversity impact and nature risk solutions for the corporate universe at scale.”
Arne Klug, vice president and biodiversity research director at MSCI ESG Research, said: “The investment community is becoming increasingly aware of how nature loss is a major threat to the global economy. Global biodiversity challenges have tangible impacts on the ways in which companies across industries function now and in the future. Therefore, investor demand for advanced data and tools to address biodiversity risks and impact is growing. MSCI’s collaboration with NatureAlpha will help our clients better identify and assess impacts and risks from nature loss in their portfolios.”
Last month, NatureAlpha launched the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) to its platform providing biodiversity and nature metrics to help them understand portfolio-related risks. IBAT was formed by NatureAlpha’s collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), BirdLife International and Conservation International.
