Learnings from a collaborative project between institutional investors and academics.

Biodiversity loss threatens economies, supply chains and long-term financial returns. Pension funds and asset managers feel these pressures across their portfolios, yet they often struggle to translate ecological science into practical steps.  

This report shares lessons from a one-year co-learning programme led by Utrecht University and the Sustainable Finance Lab. Academics and Dutch investors worked side by side to explore targets for biodiversity and investment strategies to increase positive biodiversity impact. The participants explored how ecological knowledge strengthens investment decisions.  They also tested approaches for screening dependencies and impacts and selecting interventions such as engagement, divestment or new financing strategies. 

Three insights stood out. 

• Target setting creates focus and moves investors from ambition to action. 

• Investors can reduce risks and support real-world change when they understand value chains and local ecological dynamics. 

• No institution can steer this transition alone. Investors, academics and civil-society partners stimulate progress when they share knowledge and coordinate their actions. 

The report shows how investors can build internal capacity, define priorities, select meaningful metrics and work with companies to strengthen outcomes on the ground. 

You can download the full publication here.