Direct drivers of biodiversity loss

Disclosure focus

Disclosure 101-6 requires an organization to report the direct drivers of biodiversity loss associated with the sites reported under Disclosure 101-5-a and the products and services in its supply chain reported under Disclosure 101-5-d. The organization should use the same approved lists and should not conduct a separate prioritization exercise for Disclosure 101-6.

For each site, product and service, the organization needs to report only the direct drivers that are relevant. The required drivers are land and sea use change, exploitation of natural resources, pollution, and the introduction of invasive alien species. Climate change is recognized as a direct driver of biodiversity loss, but information on climate change is not required under Disclosure 101-6 and should be reported under the applicable GRI 305 disclosures.

For land and sea use change, the organization must distinguish between natural ecosystem conversion measured since an applicable cut-off or reference date and conversion from one intensively used or other modified ecosystem to another during the reporting period. It must report the area in hectares and the ecosystem type before and after conversion. The organization should identify the ecosystem classification used and explain why its cut-off or reference date is appropriate.

For exploitation of natural resources, the organization must report the type, quantity and extinction risk of each wild species harvested, including incidental take, and report water withdrawal and water consumption in megaliters for each relevant site.

For pollution, the organization must report the type and quantity of each pollutant that leads or could lead to the most significant biodiversity impacts. Relevant pollution can include air, water and soil pollutants, as well as heat, light, noise and vibration.

For invasive alien species, the organization must describe how the species are or may be introduced and should identify the species concerned. Non-invasive alien species are not required to be reported.

For each product and service in the supply chain, the organization must report all applicable information on these drivers with a breakdown by country or jurisdiction. Where supplier primary data are unavailable, it can use secondary or modeled data, including lifecycle assessments or multi-regional input-output models. Where natural ecosystem conversion cannot be quantified in hectares, the organization can report the percentage of sourced volume assessed as deforestation- or conversion-free and describe the assessment methodology.

The organization must report the standards, methodologies and assumptions used to compile the information. It should distinguish between primary, secondary and modeled data, identify the datasets used, explain methodological and data limitations, and describe plans to improve data accuracy.

Where a driver is not relevant to a particular site, product or service, the conditional requirement does not apply. Where a relevant item cannot be reported, the organization must apply an appropriate reason for omission in accordance with GRI 1.

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