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Through our Flora Futura initiative we are enhancing the biodiversity of around two million square meters of land.
Biodiversity – the diversity of genes, species, and habitats – is the basis of our existence. In Switzerland, half of all habitats and a third of all species are currently under threat. Preserving biological diversity is also important for protecting the climate. We have set ourselves ambitious targets in our climate strategy: As a corporate citizen we want to enable human progress by protecting what is really important – and that includes biodiversity.
AXA will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2025. To mark this milestone, we want to use Flora Futura to promote biodiversity in Switzerland. Our goal is to restore biodiversity on one square meter of land for every AXA customer by 2025. This amounts to some two million square meters of biodiverse habitat, or the equivalent of about 280 soccer fields.
We are launching a variety of projects throughout Switzerland in order to achieve our goal. AXA is providing the funding to get the projects off the ground. After our initial input, the projects will be adopted and carried forward by local communities, organizations, or individuals. This allows us to ensure that our efforts will be of long-term benefit to Switzerland and our natural surroundings.
Read on to find out more about our projects:
Promoting and preserving biodiversity already plays a major role in AXA’s approach to sustainable investing: We now invest only in companies that meet certain criteria. For example, palm oil producers that do not have internationally recognized certification (e.g. RSPO) or that are linked to rain forest destruction have long been on our ESG investment exclusion list. This is because rain forest destruction upsets the balance of the ecosystem and destroys the habitat of species that are often already endangered.
AXA was also among the founding signatories of the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, an initiative to which more than 55 financial services firms have already signed up. The participating companies are committed to making a positive contribution to biodiversity through their activities and investments. The aim is to reverse the strong downward trend of biological diversity in this decade.
AXA, working jointly with the environmental organization WWF, has published recommendations on how investors can address biodiversity loss. We believe preservation of biodiversity can be achieved through new forms of public-private collaboration.
The report Into the Wild – integrating nature into investment strategies aims to raise awareness of biodiversity loss and its economic and financial implications. It makes several recommendations, including the creation of a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures to promote the protection and restoration of biological diversity. The report also calls for the creation of biodiversity risk metrics geared to investors.
As an insurance company and global investor, AXA is actively committed to protecting biodiversity and preserving the natural balance of our planet. The AXA Impact Fund “Climate & Biodiversity” is one of the global initiatives through which we invest in sustainable biodiversity conservation projects. AXA Switzerland is underscoring its sustainability initiatives with a commitment of USD 30 million in the AXA Impact Fund "Climate & Biodiversity". The investment volume of this fund was increased twofold to USD 350 million worldwide.
The AXA Research Fund supports academic research into biodiversity risks. In 2019 the Fund published a study, Biodiversity at Risk, which highlights the interactions between nature, climate change, business, and security. The goal of this study is to raise public awareness and support informed decision making.
