Biodiversity Is Moving From Ethics to Financial Risk

Van Lanschot Kempen argues biodiversity loss is no longer simply an environmental issue, but an emerging systemic financial risk with direct implications for long-term portfolio resilience. 

• The report highlights biodiversity loss as a source of physical, transition, and reputational risks for financial institutions and investment portfolios.
• More than 70% of monitored wildlife populations have reportedly declined over the past five decades, while several planetary boundaries have already been crossed.
• Van Lanschot Kempen is increasingly integrating biodiversity data, ecosystem exposure analysis, and deforestation risk into portfolio construction and company engagement.

One of the report’s more interesting arguments is that biodiversity is slowly becoming investable infrastructure itself — through regenerative agriculture, natural-resource management, and ecosystem restoration strategies.