How to Describe Your Company's Impact on Biodiversity in Your ESG Report?

Most companies do not need to write very much here

When IT consultancies, accountants, lawyers, or marketing agencies encounter the biodiversity section of their ESG report, the correct reaction is often that they have no significant impact and that it is perfectly fine to state this.

The VSME Standard is built on a principle of proportionality. You must describe your actual impact, not construct an impact that does not exist. A consulting office renting space in a standard commercial building in the middle of a city has, as a starting point, no biodiversity-relevant activity to report, regardless of how much electricity or paper the company uses. Using this section to list general resource consumption, like electricity, furniture, or IT equipment, is not what the question asks for, and it makes the response vague and disproportionately long compared to the actual impact.

Therefore, before you write anything at all, the first and most important question is:Do our physical activities, such as offices, land, construction, or production, actually have a connection to nature or sensitive ecosystems?

If the answer is no, the response is brief. If the answer is yes, it must be described concretely.

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When is biodiversity actually relevant?

Biodiversity becomes relevant for your report when there is a direct, physical connection between your activities and nature. This typically applies if:

• Your office, warehouse, or other property is located in or close to a protected nature area, such as Natura 2000, protected forests, wetlands, or other protected sites
• You own or manage land with green areas, forestry, or water
• You build, construct, or renovate buildings that affect surrounding nature
• You run production, agriculture, or extraction that directly affects an ecosystem
• A key part of your supply chain is known for high biodiversity risk, such as raw material extraction or deforestation, and this part constitutes a material part of your value chain

If none of these points are relevant to you, it is not proportional to write several paragraphs about indirect issues like electricity use or office purchases. Those belong in other sections of the report, such as energy, resources, and procurement, not in the biodiversity section.

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The correct response if you have no impact

If your company does not meet any of the conditions above, the correct response is a brief, honest statement. For example:"The company operates from leased office spaces in [city], which are not located in or near protected nature areas. The company does not own land, does not manage areas, and has no production or construction activities. Therefore, there is assessed to be no significant direct or indirect impact on biodiversity."

This is a fully valid and complete response. There is no need to add anything further.

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Three examples of how to describe it if you have an impact

If your company, on the other hand, falls into one of the relevant categories above, the response should be concrete and structured around what, where, what type, and which initiatives are being taken.

Example 1: Office near a protected nature area"The company's head office is located at [location], approximately 300 metres from a Natura 2000 designated wetland. Although the company does not own the land, traffic and parking associated with the office operations are assessed to potentially cause a minor indirect load on the area. The company has introduced a ban on extending the parking area and participates in the local landowners' association's maintenance of the buffer zone toward the wetland."

Example 2: Owned property with outdoor areas"The company owns its office property, which includes a green outdoor area of approximately 2,000 square metres. The area previously consisted of mown lawn with no ecological value. In the past year, part of the area has been converted to native, pollinator-friendly planting, and insect hotels have been installed. The direct impact is assessed as limited and positive in the recent period."

Example 3: Supply chain with known biodiversity risk"A significant part of the company's purchasing of raw materials or components [fill in relevant details] originates from suppliers in regions with documented risk of deforestation. In the reporting year, the company has demanded FSC certification from two of its three main suppliers and is in dialogue with the third regarding similar requirements from the next purchasing period."

These examples demonstrate the structure that makes a biodiversity description strong when it is relevant: a concrete location, a clear causal connection, and an initiative showing that the impact is recognised and managed, rather than a generic formulation that could apply to any company.

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How Wardn makes it easier

Wardn guides you through the VSME questions with built-in help text, allowing you to quickly clarify whether biodiversity is actually relevant to your company, so you avoid spending time on disproportionately long descriptions of matters without a real connection to biodiversity. If the answer is "no, not relevant," the platform helps you formulate a brief, correct statement. If the answer is "yes," Wardn structures the response according to the same model as the examples above, ensuring that the documentation is clear, consistent, and easy to reuse year after year.

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Frequently asked questions

Should our IT consulting company report anything about biodiversity?

Only if your offices or activities actually border protected nature, involve owned land or areas, or if your supply chain has a known biodiversity risk. If none of these apply, a brief statement that there is no significant impact is the correct answer.

Should we mention electricity consumption and office purchases in the biodiversity section?

No. These typically belong under other sections, such as energy or resource use. Including them in the biodiversity section makes the answer disproportionately long without adding real relevance, unless there is a direct connection to a specific nature area or a supplier with documented risk.

What if our office is located near a protected nature area?

Then you should describe the concrete connection: how close, what type of impact, such as traffic or land use, and any initiatives you have implemented to limit it, as shown in example 1 above.

Is it acceptable to just write that we have no impact?

Yes, if it is true. A brief, honest statement that the company does not operate in or near sensitive nature and does not own or manage land is a complete and correct response under the VSME principle of proportionality.

How do we best describe it if we actually have an impact?

Structure the answer around: what the impact is, where it occurs, whether it is direct or indirect, and what concrete initiatives you have launched. See the examples in the article for concrete formulations.

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