A group of not-for-profits on Wednesday launched a free platform that gives financials access to comparable data on deforestation in the portfolios of more than 2,000 major companies worldwide.
Global Canopy, the Stockholm Environment Institute, and ZSL launched the free-to-use Forest IQ to help investors easily assess and engage with companies on deforestation-free portfolios.
“Financial institutions that are still ignoring deforestation in their portfolios are pursuing a dangerous strategy – or perhaps are just asleep at the wheel. There is no pathway to net zero or nature goals without rapid action on deforestation, yet our analysis shows that the great majority of financial institutions are still at the starting line,” Global Canopy Executive Director Niki Mardas said in an announcement.
“Forest IQ will make it easier than ever for financial institutions to play their vital part in a rapid market-wide transition away from deforestation.”
The non-profits have collected data across seven datasets for the covered companies, with indicators covering issues such as deforestation, conversion, and human rights abuses.
Their aim is to let financials easily access and compare data, allowing them to make decisions or engage with companies, as regulators in the EU and elsewhere are introducing tougher deforestation-free portfolio requirements.
Forest IQ has been developed with input from several major global financials, including Blackrock, BNP Paribas, and HSBC, and has been tested by 50 organisations over the last month before launch.
Datasets covered at the moment are Deforestation Action Tracker, Forest 500, SEI York, Trase, ZSL SPOTT, RSPO, and additional research by the team.
“As the platform evolves, data from CDP Forests will be incorporated into the core metrics in Q4 2023, and new datasets that can improve the metrics further will be added on a rolling basis,” the announcement said.
“Forest IQ will have as a priority to expand its coverage to include ever-more of the most widely-financed companies with the greatest exposure to deforestation, and to keep its data timely.”
The developers are also working to include Forest IQ on leading ESG service provider platforms, they said.
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