Biodiversity and intact ecosystems do not just have an intrinsic value, they also underpin societal and economic wellbeing through the services they provide to humankind. In many regions around the world, however, they are in serious decline. While the world has recently made considerable progress in understanding the impacts of climate change, this is less true for biodiversity and ecosystems. At Swiss Re we believe that it is vital to recognise the implications of this decline and to start taking action.
IIn 2020, we launched a pioneering Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) Index which serves to measure the state of these services in individual locations and enables decision-makers to factor in the associated risks. The BES Index received international attention in 2021 and has been hailed as a “significant ESG catalyst and enabler” by the World Bank.
