AFRY supports biodiversity pilot programme for Nefco
AFRY has been contracted by Nefco - the Nordic Green Bank - to implement a Biodiversity Pilot Programme. The aim of the two-year programme is to test best practices for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to meet increasing legal and regulatory obligations to protect biodiversity.
In the two-year pilot programme, Nefco and AFRY are working with companies to develop solutions for managing biodiversity opportunities and risks. By developing concrete and scalable nature-based solutions and using the experience gained to draft individual biodiversity management plans, the companies will be able to take concrete action to conserve nature. The resulting good practices will support SMEs in particular and prepare them for the upcoming reporting requirements.
The participating companies, selected from the Bank's portfolio, are already implementing sustainable practices, while the programme's activities are tailored to the size and needs of each company.
The capacity-building approach is a very important part of the project, with AFRY organising workshops to raise awareness and knowledge about biodiversity. Topics covered range from general information on how businesses affect and depend on nature, to new regulations and frameworks, to how to integrate biodiversity into a sustainability strategy through the development of an action plan.
AFRY supported the pilot companies with materiality analyses of their business activities and Nefco itself with its portfolio of companies. As these are different sectors, additional analyses were carried out in line with the company's vision, such as site-specific analyses or supply chain screenings.
With the help of AFRY, companies can develop their own biodiversity action plan. This can include a variety of measures: Ecosystem restoration at production sites, communication strategies, technical collection and integration of biodiversity-related data or compensation calculations for conservation-friendly investments.
