Are Your Sites in or Near Biodiversity-Sensitive Areas?

Introduction

The ESRS E4 requires companies to report which of their sites are in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas. This raises two key questions: What defines a biodiversity-sensitive area, and when exactly is a site considered to be "near" one?

INSIGHTS

There isn’t a simple, universal answer to these questions. However, our research on the proximity issue has revealed the following insights:

1. The Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool, which holds exclusive rights to the commercial use of the Protected Areas and Key Biodiversity Areas datasets, uses a 50 km radius to assess proximity in their multi-site report.
2. Recent SME Guidance from EFRAG defines "near" as areas that are partially overlapping or directly adjacent to biodiversity-sensitive areas.
3. A RepRisk study suggests that extractive projects should be located more than 1 km away from biodiversity-sensitive areas, as closer proximity significantly increases environmental risks.
4. The WWF recommends a 1 km buffer around assets for assessing potential environmental impacts but suggests adjusting this based on asset size or sector-specific risks.

Conclusion

These varying approaches highlight the need for careful consideration when defining proximity to biodiversity-sensitive areas. With the Leeana platform, you start with a default boundary to gain first insights, and then you can tailor the buffer zone based on for example your asset classes or even specifically for certain sites. To learn more, feel free to book a free demo.

Sources

IBAT (2024), available at www.ibat-alliance.org
‍EFRAG (2024), Voluntary ESRS for non-listed small and medium sized enterprises, available at https://www.efrag.org/sites/default/files/sites/webpublishing/SiteAssets/VSMEED January 2024.pdf

RepRisk (2024), Proximity of extractive projects to biodiversity sensitive sites and environmental risk exposure, available at: https://www.reprisk.com/news-research/reports/when-location-matters-proximity-of-infrastructure-projects-to-environmentally-sensitive-sites-and-biodiversity-risk/db9bea35
‍WWF (2022), The biodiversity data puzzle, available at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-12/The-Biodiversity-Data-Puzzle.pdf