Robeco is one of 23 financial institutions to sign the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, which calls upon world leaders to reverse nature loss.

The asset manager is demanding that governments across the globe commit to collaborating, engaging, assessing their own biodiversity impact, setting targets and reporting on biodiversity matters by 2024 at the latest.

It follows the asset manager's announced exclusion of all fossil fuels from its funds earlier this month.

The pledge was established by a group of European financial institutions which has been working actively to protect the environment as members of the Finance and Biodiversity Community. The group includes financial services companies such as AXA and Piraeus Bank, while the pledge has attracted additional signatories from the asset management world like Allianz and AEGON.

Commenting on the newly announced initiative, Victor Verberk, CIO fixed income and sustainability at Robeco, believed that halting the rapid decline of biodiversity across the past decade worldwide was crucial to the preservation of the planet.

He explained: “Economic consequences of biodiversity loss can be severe and represent a systemic risk for businesses and investors. Deforestation, which is driving biodiversity loss, leads to the release of large amounts of carbon stored in the carbon sinks of forests around the world. In addition, the global agricultural system depends on pollination and soil biodiversity to produce food for a growing global population.”

Mr Verbeek also encouraged further signatories, and for companies to take sustainability development goals seriously.

He said: “The Biodiversity Pledge represents an important landmark for our industry. We are delighted to be among the first signatories committing to this Pledge, and we look forward to working together with the rest of the signatories to jointly contribute to reverse nature loss through our investments and active ownership work.”

The 23 signatories to the pledge are:

ACTIAM N.V

Achmea Investment Management

AEGON Nederland N.V

Allianz France

ASN Bank

ASR Nederland

Bank J. Safra Sarasin

Bankinter

AXA Group

Groupe Caisse des Dépôts

Domini Impact Investments LLC

Etica Sgr - Responsible Investments

HSBC Global Asset Management

Karner Blue Capital

Mirova

Piraeus Bank

New Forests Pty Ltd

NN Investment Partners

NWB Bank

Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A

Robeco Triodos Bank

Volksbank