Session Description
Corporate nature reporting under TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) and CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) draws on global biodiversity datasets, while on-site mitigation is designed from EIA field data. The two rarely meet. Global datasets lack the granularity to guide local action, and site-level EIAs are hard to connect to global targets such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
IUCN's RHINO approach is designed to deliver Rapid High-Integrity Nature Positive Outcomes, aligning on the ground action with global goals. The STAR metric (Species Threat Abatement and Restoration) quantifies how much abating threats or restoring habitat at a given site could reduce global species extinction risk. A new calibration module in IBAT (Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool) lets practitioners refine STAR using EIA survey results, correcting species lists, threats, threat intensities and site occupancy, then use the calibrated figures to set proportionate mitigation targets. The result is an assessment that is both locally verified and globally comparable. Following this site-level refinement, the IUCN approach guides users on setting targets for reducing their impact in a way that is both rapid and high-integrity, helping to drive meaningful contributions toward a nature-positive future.
This session will set out the method, work through its application at a project site, and demonstrate the calibration workflow. We will then open discussion on where the approach holds up, where it does not, and what impact assessment practitioners need from global datasets to make nature-positive claims defensible.
Session Summary
Integrating global biodiversity data with site-level EIAs can bridge the gap between corporate reporting and on-the-ground mitigation. We introduce the IUCN RHINO approach and the IBAT module to calibrate site actions, enabling rapid, high-integrity decision-making aligned with global goals for a nature-positive future.
Session Chair
Edward Ellis
Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool
Australia