OCE-B.15.B - Nature Impact Driver Assessment
Does the company assess its impact drivers related to changes in the state of nature?
About the data
The WBA Ocean Benchmark measures and ranks the world's most influential companies on their efforts to halt and reverse nature loss in marine ecosystems, tracking how companies manage their impacts on ocean biodiversity, marine habitats, and the communities and workers dependent on healthy seas. The 2026 edition is WBA's first Ocean Benchmark, assessing 125 companies across key sectors dependent on oceans, including seafood, maritime transport, offshore wind energy, shipbuilding, port operations, apparel, and chemicals. Companies are assessed on 47 indicators across four measurement areas: governance, ecosystems and biodiversity, social responsibility, and core social indicators. The benchmark builds on WBA's Nature Benchmark and the former Seafood Stewardship Index, and its methodology was developed with input from more than 50 stakeholders including ocean communities, companies, scientists and civil society, with human rights and social impacts kept at its core alongside nature-specific concerns. More information can be found here.
Methodology
The private sector has historically been one of the main contributors to environmental
degradation. It is crucial for companies to reverse this trend to ensure a sustainable future. A vital first
step in this process is for companies to transparently disclose their impacts on nature. Frameworks
provided by organisations such as Business for Nature, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Nature Action
100 (NA100) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) offer comprehensive
guidelines to help companies report and mitigate their environmental footprints.
Research Guidance:
Companies must:
Explicitly identify their most material impact drivers (following [TNFD guidance](https://tnfd.global/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Guidance_on_the_identification_and_assessment_of_nature-related_Issues_The_TNFD_LEAP_approach_V1.1_October2023.pdf?v=1698403116), pg. 70), and
Quantify at least one of them (e.g. size in hectares of ecosystems converted, quantity of wild species harvested, water withdrawal in megalitres, etc.).
The impact drivers can include a company's own operations, their value chain, or a combination thereof. Impact drivers that are covered by other Nature indicators should only be considered in for this element if the company itself identifies them as impact drivers affecting the state of nature, for example, as be an explicit reference to these drivers being associated with its main impacts on ecosystems or species.
Possible impact drivers include:
**Land-/freshwater-/ocean-use change**
Land-use change
Freshwater-use change
Ocean-use change
**Climate change**
Greenhouse gas emissions
**Resource use/replenishment**
Water use
Species harvested/hunted
Materials harvested/extracted
Other resources
**Pollution**
Air pollution (non-greenhouse gases)
Water pollution
Soil pollution
Waste
Disturbances
**Invasive species and other**
Biological alterations
Examples of tools that companies may refer to include:
SBTN Materiality Screening Tool
SBTN High Impact Commodity List
TNFD LEAP
Natural Capital Protocol
ENCORE
degradation. It is crucial for companies to reverse this trend to ensure a sustainable future. A vital first
step in this process is for companies to transparently disclose their impacts on nature. Frameworks
provided by organisations such as Business for Nature, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Nature Action
100 (NA100) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) offer comprehensive
guidelines to help companies report and mitigate their environmental footprints.
Research Guidance:
Companies must:
Explicitly identify their most material impact drivers (following [TNFD guidance](https://tnfd.global/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Guidance_on_the_identification_and_assessment_of_nature-related_Issues_The_TNFD_LEAP_approach_V1.1_October2023.pdf?v=1698403116), pg. 70), and
Quantify at least one of them (e.g. size in hectares of ecosystems converted, quantity of wild species harvested, water withdrawal in megalitres, etc.).
The impact drivers can include a company's own operations, their value chain, or a combination thereof. Impact drivers that are covered by other Nature indicators should only be considered in for this element if the company itself identifies them as impact drivers affecting the state of nature, for example, as be an explicit reference to these drivers being associated with its main impacts on ecosystems or species.
Possible impact drivers include:
**Land-/freshwater-/ocean-use change**
Land-use change
Freshwater-use change
Ocean-use change
**Climate change**
Greenhouse gas emissions
**Resource use/replenishment**
Water use
Species harvested/hunted
Materials harvested/extracted
Other resources
**Pollution**
Air pollution (non-greenhouse gases)
Water pollution
Soil pollution
Waste
Disturbances
**Invasive species and other**
Biological alterations
Examples of tools that companies may refer to include:
SBTN Materiality Screening Tool
SBTN High Impact Commodity List
TNFD LEAP
Natural Capital Protocol
ENCORE
License
Topics
Framework Mappings
Value Type
Category
Options
Yes
No
Assessment
Steward Assessed
Report Type
Aggregate Data Report