Identification of biodiversity impacts

Disclosure focus

Disclosure 101-4 requires an organization to explain how it determined which of its sites and which products and services in its supply chain have the most significant actual and potential impacts on biodiversity. The disclosure focuses on the determination process. Detailed information on the resulting sites, products and services and their biodiversity impacts is reported under Disclosures 101-5 to 101-8.

Sites include locations owned, leased or managed by the organization and other locations where it conducts activities. They also include sites where future operations have been announced but have not yet started, inactive sites, and relevant subsurface infrastructure such as underground tunnels, cables and pipelines.

The supply-chain assessment covers products and services from suppliers throughout the upstream supply chain, including suppliers beyond the first tier. The organization can additionally report information for entities downstream in its value chain where such information is available.

The organization should describe the methods and assumptions used, the threshold applied, any limitations or exclusions, and the sources and evidence used. It should also explain whether and how stakeholders were engaged to identify biodiversity impacts.

The organization should distinguish between primary, secondary and modeled data. When secondary or modeled data are used, it should identify the datasets, explain their limitations and state whether and how it plans to improve data accuracy.

To assess the significance of impacts, the organization should consider the severity of actual impacts and the severity and likelihood of potential impacts. Severity is assessed through scale, scope and irremediable character. Relevant supporting factors can include direct drivers of biodiversity loss, proximity to ecologically sensitive areas, threatened species, ecosystem condition and changes in ecosystem services.

Where it is not feasible to conduct a detailed assessment across all sites and all supply-chain products and services, the organization can first conduct a documented scoping exercise to identify where impacts are most likely to be present and significant. It should explain the scope, criteria, assumptions, limitations and exclusions of that exercise.

Reasons for omission are permitted in accordance with GRI 1 where the organization cannot comply with the disclosure or a specific requirement.

This LRA educational guidance supports disclosure preparation. For the exact requirements, always refer to the official Global Reporting Initiative source.