MEAN SPECIES ABUNDANCE: HOW TO MEASURE THE BIODIVERSITY IMPACT OF AN INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO?
EXTERNAL ARTICLE
Estimated reading time: 4 min.
As biodiversity loss becomes a systemic risk, finance must find ways to measure its footprint on nature. But how do we translate supply chains, emissions, and land use into a meaningful biodiversity impact? The answer lies in the MSA metric, and in combining scientific models like GLOBIO with economic datasets like EXIOBASE.
MSA stands for Mean Species Abundance. It reflects how intact an ecosystem is, from 1 (pristine) to 0 (fully degraded). By associating each business activity with land use, pollution, fragmentation, and other pressures, we can estimate the MSA·km² lost per million euros of revenue or investment.
THE LOGIC CHAIN BEHIND BIODIVERSITY IMPACT
1. EXIOBASE gives resource use and emissions per euro of output for each (sector × country) pair.
2. GLOBIO translates these physical flows into biodiversity loss (via pressure–impact relationships).
3. Multiplying the two yields: MSA·km² per M€ — a footprint intensity.
4. These values are aggregated across the portfolio, weighted by exposure or ownership.
For example, a portfolio exposed to European agriculture may generate 800 MSA·m²/k€, i.e. 0.8 m² of nature degraded for every €1,000 financed.
STATIC VS DYNAMIC
• Static impact = legacy land occupation or fragmentation still present today (e.g. cropland, pasture).
• Dynamic impact = additional degradation caused during the current year (e.g. deforestation, emissions, fertilizer use).
• Both are essential to understand long-term risks and short-term performance.
WHAT DATA IS NEEDED?
• Minimal: revenue breakdown by sector and geography.
• Better: internal Scope 1–3 inventories.
• Advanced: LCA data or detailed supplier-level emissions and land use.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR ASSET MANAGERS
MSA-based indicators enable:
• portfolio footprinting (MSA·m²/k€, or MSAppb),
• engagement with companies and sectors,
• exclusion or prioritiZation policies,
• alignment with TNFD, CSRD, or “nature-positive” targets.
By linking scientific insight to economic flows, biodiversity impact becomes measurable, and actionable, in financial terms. A critical step toward aligning portfolios with global nature goals by 2030.
USEFUL SOURCES
- Schipper, A. M., et al. (2020). Projecting terrestrial biodiversity intactness with GLOBIO 4
- Hudson, L. N., et al. (2016). The PREDICTS database: A global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts. Ecology and Evolution, 6(21), 7014–7035
- Stadler, K., et al. (2018). EXIOBASE 3: Developing a time series of detailed environmentally extended multi-regional input–output tables
- CDC Biodiversité (2022). Global Biodiversity Score: Technical documentation – Version 2022
- FAIRR Initiative (2024). Corporate Biodiversity Footprints: Data and Case Studies Supporting Investor Action on Biodiversity
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COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS TOPIC
Title
What is Mean Species Abundance (MSA)?
MSA is a biodiversity metric that measures ecosystem intactness: a value of 1 means a pristine ecosystem, 0 means fully degraded. It quantifies how human activities impact species abundance and habitat integrity.
Title
How is MSA calculated for an investment portfolio?
It is derived by combining economic input-output data (e.g., from EXIOBASE) with ecological pressure-impact models (e.g., GLOBIO) to estimate MSA-km2 lost per million euros of revenue/investment.
Title
Why is MSA relevant for asset managers and asset owners?
Because biodiversity loss is a systemic risk, MSA-based indicators enable foot printing, engagement prioritization, exclusion policies, and alignment with nature-related framework (e.g., Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures - TNFD).
Title
What data is required to use MSA in practice?
At minimum: revenue breakdown by sector and geography. Better: internal Scope 1-3 data, supplier-level emissions/land-use. Advanced: life-cycle assessment (LCA) data or detailed supplier flows.
Title
What is the difference between static and dynamic MSA impacts?
Static impact refers to legacy land occupation or fragmentation already present. Dynamic impact refers to additional degradation occurring in the current year (e.g., deforestation, emissions, fertilizer use). Both help assess biodiversity risk over time.