GIST Impact and the Natural History Museum have launched a new collaboration aimed at equipping investors with biodiversity data to better assess nature-related risks across global corporate assets.
Announced on 1 July, the partnership integrates the museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) into GIST Impact’s analytics platform. GIST IMPACT is a climate data analytics firm backed among others by UBS.
The BII, developed by researchers at the museum, is a measure of ecosystem health and tracks how biodiversity is affected by human activity such as land use change and intensification.
By embedding BII into its system, GIST Impact can now provide site-level biodiversity insights for more than 98% of global listed companies and millions of private firms. This allows institutional investors to assess and compare biodiversity risks and opportunities in their portfolios with far greater precision than previously possible.
The launch comes as investors face growing expectations to measure and disclose nature-related impacts, driven by initiatives like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), and the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF).
“Nature-related risks are translating into material financial impacts because the entire global economy depends, at some level, on the goods and services provided by nature,” said Pavan Sukhdev, founder and CEO of GIST Impact. “This integration enhances our ability to deliver scientifically credible, location-specific biodiversity data at scale, supporting investors in better managing these risks.”
Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, added: “It’s critical that we support investors in understanding and reducing their impacts on nature. GIST Impact’s global reach makes them an ideal partner to help bring the Biodiversity Intactness Index into investment decision-making.”
The platform will enable investors to screen assets for biodiversity risk, identify ecologically sensitive areas for engagement or mitigation, model potential nature-positive outcomes, and assess financial exposure to declining ecosystem health.
