Malakoff Humanis, in partnership with Carbone 4, is laying the groundwork for a biodiversity roadmap for all of its investments
Malakoff Humanis is a mutual social protection group operating in the health and personal protection sectors.
The Group had already set decarbonization targets and had an initial biodiversity footprint for its listed assets, produced by Carbon4 Finance (Carbone 4’s climate and biodiversity data provider). It wanted to take its biodiversity efforts a step further, with three objectives:
- Complete the inventory of its impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities with regard to biodiversity, on asset classes not yet covered
- define initial strategic priorities for reduce the impact of its investments on biodiversity
- build skills and get people on board all relevant teams
In 2024, Malakoff Humanis engaged Carbone 4 to develop, within four months, a biodiversity strategy covering all of its investments: listed, unlisted, and real estate. The CSR and Investment departments were involved in the process.
1. Measuring the biodiversity footprint of investments
Carbone 4 first assembled a project team focused on biodiversity issues specific to investments: MSA metrics, sector materiality, and reference frameworks. This process of familiarizing the teams with the subject matter helped mobilize them to collect data on unlisted companies and real estate.
Malakoff Humanis already had the biodiversity footprint of its publicly traded assets, derived from Carbon4 Finance’s Biodiversity Impact Analytics database. Carbone 4 was thus able to supplement this data for unlisted companies and real estate using the same method, the Global Biodiversity Score (GBS).
2. Assess the risks and opportunities in the sectors receiving funding
This analysis made it possible to identify the sectors funded by Malakoff Humanis that face the greatest challenges: Energy, Real Estate, Retail, and Healthcare.
For each sector, Carbone 4 has prepared a qualitative fact sheet that identifies the main impacts, dependencies, physical and transition risks, and opportunities.
For example, in the energy sector:
- Impacts & Dependencies: Solar, wind, and hydroelectric facilities alter and fragment natural habitats, while the sector relies on freshwater.
- Risks & Opportunities: The degradation of freshwater ecosystems may increase the costs of hydropower and nuclear power. The sector can also capitalize on opportunities, such as on-site habitat restoration.
3. Prioritize issues based on market practices
To assess Malakoff Humanis’s position, Carbone 4 then conducted a benchmark analysis of five financial institutions (Abeille Assurances, AG2R La Mondiale, AXA, Caisse des Dépôts, MAIF). This highlighted practices that could be adopted: measured pressure, monitored indicators, and exclusion policies.
Interviews with members of the Executive Committee supplemented this analysis to identify the Group’s specific areas for action.
4. Set Your Initial Goals
These insights informed a workshop with key stakeholders, during which Carbone 4 formulated initial objectives, actions, and indicators inspired by the SBTN. The actions are broken down by asset class and by pressure, based on three levers: exclusion, engagement, and investment. Finally, Carbone 4 presented the strategy to the Executive Committee, which demonstrated a willingness to listen to these issues.
A biodiversity strategy that aligns with the climate strategy
For each asset class, Carbone 4 has identified the major pressures. Climate change stands out as the primary one: the Group’s biodiversity strategy is therefore inextricably linked to its climate action.
Carbone 4 has also identified the funds with the greatest impact on biodiversity in order to prioritize dialogue with the relevant fund management companies.
Three areas of focus: exclusion, engagement, and investment
The Carbone 4 analysis highlights three strategic areas of focus that the Group can use as a foundation for developing its biodiversity roadmap:
- Exclude assets that support practices harmful to biodiversity (fossil fuels, pesticides, products resulting from deforestation, etc.).
- Hire management companies, particularly in improving data collection and monitoring biodiversity indicators.
- Invest in the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, for example through dedicated green bonds.
An approach shared by the teams
Trained by Carbone 4 and involved from the very start of the data collection process, the teams at Malakoff Humanis have fully embraced the approach. In 2025, they transformed the proposed actions into a biodiversity roadmap, which will be published and updated annually.
The roadmap is guided by indicators, such as the number of companies committed to a particular issue or an analysis of their policies to combat deforestation. Ultimately, the Group aims to track these indicators on a company-by-company basis to identify those that should be addressed as a priority.
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