Marine biodiversity risks

Helping organisations to address risks to marine biodiversity

We provide focused marine biodiversity consultancy advice to organisations to assess and manage the risks of their operations at both the site- and corporate-level.

We are a recognised leading go-to advisor for site-based projects and company portfolios that may lead to impacts on marine biodiversity. We work at the project and the seascape levels to identify risks and opportunities for action. We help organisations to assess risks, define robust mitigation, drive effective monitoring, and develop strategies and action plans that address risks and deliver positive outcomes.

We support organisations to align with global frameworks or to drive biodiversity ambition by identifying clear pathways for positive action across their operations. We align with leading global best practice and develop new pragmatic approaches, tools and guidance where needed. Across all aspects of our advice, we help organisations to demonstrate how they are applying leading approaches and contributing to wider conservation and societal goals.

In this capacity, we have supported major international organisations to define or deliver corporate ambition and commitments for biodiversity. Our expertise is also demonstrated through the longstanding delivery of advice for many high-profile and complex development projects across the globe.

Sectors we advise

Marine
transport

Ports, harbours, shipping

Marine
energy

Offshore wind, solar, tidal, conventional energy

Marine
communications

Submarine cables

Coastal development

Coastal defence, tourism, water treatment, industrial

What we do

Key components of our work to address marine biodiversity risks include:

  • Marine biodiversity screening
  • Baseline desk-top and field studies
  • Natural and Critical Habitat Assessments
  • Support to optimise implementation of the mitigation hierarchy
  • Biodiversity management and action plans
  • Biodiversity monitoring and evaluation programmes
  • Net gain strategies
  • Due diligence and monitoring of projects financed by International Finance Institutions

We seek to embed the knowledge of local and regional experts from our global network in our work, supporting our leading marine biodiversity researchers. We also provide capacity building and support to organisations around understanding and managing biodiversity risks effectively.

Examples of the new tools and guidance documents we have developed includes guidance on defining ecologically appropriate scales of analysis to comply with the requirements of IFC Performance Standard 6, common mitigation insights, a framework for delivering marine net gains, and a review of underwater sound impacts for Convention on Biological Diversity. We also share access to marine biodiversity screening tools and restoration resources that we use to support clients and other global actors engaged in addressing risks to marine biodiversity.

Our projects