Protecting Biodiversity from Harmful Financing: Habitats with Threatened and Endemic Species, and Key Biodiversity Areas

The document calls for financial institutions to adopt 'No Go Areas' for financing to prevent biodiversity loss, specifically targeting habitats with threatened and endemic species and Key Biodiversity Areas. It argues that banks face material risks from both directly driving biodiversity loss and contributing to systemic degradation. The briefing recommends that banks expand their definitions of 'Critical Habitat', reject biodiversity offsets as ineffective, and establish specialized processes to independently validate Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to avoid conflicts of interest.

• Financial institutions face material risks from biodiversity loss through two primary channels: by directly driving negative impacts via specific financed activities, and by contributing to systemic biodiversity loss—including pollution, climate change, over-exploitation of natural resources, and land use change—which threatens the long-term sustainability of their investment sectors.
• To minimize impact on biodiversity loss, banks and financiers should prohibit financing in Key Biodiversity Areas and habitats containing endemic species as well as those classified as Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered.
• The document asserts that biodiversity offsets are not an effective mitigation measure for managing biodiversity risks.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) documents are often inadequate or invalid due to conflicts of interest; therefore, banks should employ specialized staff to validate these findings and disclose the documents publicly for independent verification.

APA

Friends of the Earth (2022). Protecting Biodiversity from Harmful Financing: Habitats with Threatened and Endemic Species, and Key Biodiversity Areas. https://foe.org/resources/no-go-areas-03/

Chicago

Friends of the Earth. Protecting Biodiversity from Harmful Financing: Habitats with Threatened and Endemic Species, and Key Biodiversity Areas. 2022. https://foe.org/resources/no-go-areas-03/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth |title=Protecting Biodiversity from Harmful Financing: Habitats with Threatened and Endemic Species, and Key Biodiversity Areas |date=7 December 2022 |url=https://foe.org/resources/no-go-areas-03/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearth2022protecting, author = {{Friends of the Earth}}, title = {{Protecting Biodiversity from Harmful Financing: Habitats with Threatened and Endemic Species, and Key Biodiversity Areas}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://foe.org/resources/no-go-areas-03/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }