On this page you can find biodiversity reading and guidance. This includes curated libraries, research papers, podcasts, and blogs.
“Actuaries are pivotal in pensions and insurance, and increasingly in banking. These are all industries that directly influence what the future will look like, as they determine what activities are financed and insured. For example, in the UK, approximately a third of total investments are pensions-related. In other words, the decisions we make on how to invest these funds really can make a profound difference to the future we will all live in.
But making a difference requires a mindset shift for us. It requires us to consider not only the direct financial impact of our decisions but also the broader, real-world impacts that can have long-term effects on our customers, shareholders and wider society. It requires us to consider the financial system not as separate from the wider Earth system, but as intricately linked to it. Money simply cannot put right the fundamental changes that biodiversity loss might bring after it is too late – but the financial world can help keep it from getting too late.
We will need to adapt our actuarial toolkit to embrace new concepts like systems thinking, sustainability, risk interconnectedness and net zero. We will also need to evolve our sense of responsibility, recognising that we wield great power through the decisions we oversee in the global financial system – power to make choices today that will have far reaching and profound implications for the generations of tomorrow. Now is the time to update our operating manual and incorporate long-term sustainability into the tenets of the profession.
We actuaries have an immense opportunity. We can play a part in securing a sustainable future, in ensuring pensioners, policyholders and society at large will have a world worth living in. And we must choose to do so.”
Sandy Trust, IFoA Sustainability Board Past Chair
There is a broad array of resources for actuaries on biodiversity. As a starting point, we recommend our 2023 introductory guide: Biodiversity and nature related risks for actuaries: an introduction
The introductory guide includes a glossary, a list of voluntary measurement and target-setting initiatives, references to 94 papers, and links to over 21 supervisory initiatives.
The guide is supported by a range of resources and insights from the IFoA and its Sustainability Board. These include a biodiversity curated library, sessional research papers, blogs, and podcasts.
Ongoing updates can be found by:
Those looking at their CPD needs will find a helpful guide with the CPD Scheme Reflective Practice Discussion Toolkit: Climate Change and Sustainability (1.2 MB PDF).
For IFoA members, there are also many webinar and event resources within the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Log in and search for ‘sustainability’ or ‘biodiversity’ for webinars and thought leadership events.
We also have an extensive IFoA policy paper: Biodiversity: managing risk and uncertainty – policy briefing.
Further resource links are outlined below.
Explore our curated libraries on:
The IFoA Sustainability Board's 5 sessional papers cover introductions to different elements of biodiversity. Read more in the blog post biodiversity sessional: planting the seeds.
The 5 papers are:
You can listen to our podcast on biodiversity.
Read our blog posts about:
Read a UK government blog post about biodiversity and the role of actuaries.
The IFoA responds to consultations on a wide range of issues to support its members and to fulfil our public interest role.
Our responses related to biodiversity are:
In March 2022, the IFoA created a Climate Risk and Sustainability Course. It helps its members understand and consider climate- and sustainability-related risks in the same way as other major risks like interest rate risk and mortality risk.
The 8-week online course is designed to be taken anywhere in the world and provide members with an understanding of:
It is not intended that the successful completion of the course would make an actuary a climate risk or sustainability expert. It is rather an enabler to stimulate interest and a potential platform for further study. For details of the course and next booking, see Climate Risk and Sustainability Course.
“We actuaries have an immense opportunity. We can play a part in securing a sustainable future, in ensuring pensioners, policyholders and society at large will have a world worth living in. And we must choose to do so.”
