The relevance of biodiversity in industry: strategic risk management and new business opportunities

The relevance of biodiversity for industrial performance

Industrial companies are increasingly recognizing the impacts their operations have on biodiversity. However, their dependence on biodiversity is often less clear, and its financial significance frequently goes unrecognized. According to Sweco’s  Urban Insight report published in June 2025, only 16% of the largest European industrial and energy companies consider biodiversity financially material to their business. At Sweco, we help companies identify biodiversity-related risks and integrate biodiversity into sustainable business practices.

The biodiversity loss has increasingly concrete effects on the operating environment of industry. The decline of ecosystems is reflected, for example, in raw material shortages and supply disruptions, which can interrupt production and drive up costs.

Limited water resources and heatwaves can also affect production environments, particularly in areas with insufficient cooling infrastructure. Many sectors are still not adequately prepared for extreme weather events—especially heat.

At the same time, growing sustainability expectations from stakeholders and evolving nature policies are creating new requirements that call for foresight. The importance of biodiversity becomes particularly evident when examining the long-term resilience of business operations, reputation-related risks, and the reliability of supply chains.

The relevance of biodiversity in industry’s strategies and projects

Considering biodiversity as part of a business strategy and taking concrete actions to safeguard nature provides industrial companies with an opportunity to differentiate themselves in the market before competitors recognize its importance. Early action can strengthen competitive advantage and secure business continuity while supporting ecosystem health.

The relevance of biodiversity is increasingly reflected in the expectations of clients, investors, and financiers. Therefore, enhancing biodiversity and combating nature loss should be an integral part of strategic planning.

Integrating biodiversity into business

Sweco supports companies in integrating biodiversity into the core of their business — from the entire value chain to individual facilities and their operations. We help from strategy to implementation, offering executive sparring, target-setting, and practical deployment. We combine local insight, multidisciplinary expertise, and the support of an international expert network.

With us, you can:

1. Identify and manage risks related to natural resources, such as threats to the availability and supply of raw materials and water
2. Meet the requirements of sustainability regulation and ESG reporting
3. Protect and enhance ecosystems at all stages of your projects
4. Find new business opportunities and transition to biodiversity‑positive business models such as circular economy
5. Convince and strengthen stakeholder trust

Well‑planned and well‑managed biodiversity work supports both the financial prerequisites of green bonds and the achievement of strategic environmental objectives.

Did you know that the EU allocates more than €20 billion each year to safeguarding biodiversity, and that as much as 7–8% of GDP goes into green investments*? Sweco’s expert solutions help your company leverage these opportunities and prepare for future regulation.

Biodiversity services for industry

Our service offering combines extensive biodiversity expertise with strong technical implementation:

1. Biodiversity strategies, roadmaps and guidelines: We develop clear roadmaps with you to help integrate biodiversity into business strategy and early‑stage decision‑making.
2. Expert support for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and permitting processes: We ensure that your business activities meet biodiversity‑related
   requirements smoothly and professionally. Our goal is to support clients beyond the minimum requirements of legislation.
3. Nature impact and risk analyses: We help identify the ecosystem services on which your operations depend on and what risks or opportunities are associated with them.
4. Biodiversity assessments: We analyse the current state and recognize the critical natural values that affect planning and implementation of your activities and business plan.
5. ESG reporting and compliance with sustainable finance requirements: We help you to fulfill ESG reporting criteria and demonstrate sustainable performance through concrete results.
6. Sustainability management and procurement guidelines: We provide comprehensive strategic sustainability services that ensure your strategies and roadmaps are effectively integrated into daily business operations. We help define metrics that support business management while taking nature and climate targets into account.
7. Development of circular economy and industrial symbioses: We develop and design industrial processes to support the transition to the circular economy. We assist in planning circular economy areas and facilities, and in the development of industrial symbioses as well as managing the circular economy value chains.
8. Ecological compensation and restoration assessments and planning: We support you in identifying compensation needs and in designing effective and impactful nature restoration activities.
9. Technical documentation and stakeholder communication: We help to produce clear, verifiable and trasparent communication for authorities, and other stakeholders.

Our services can be tailored to different industries and regional conditions. We ensure that the solutions support your business goals and operating environment.

* Urban Insight report — Biodiversity: Key steps to future-proof businesses, published June 16, 2025