Mirova Deploys EUR 100 Million Biodiversity Fund Using CDP Corporate Dataset

French asset manager Mirova has launched the EUR 100 million Fonds Objectif Biodiversite, a listed biodiversity fund targeting small and medium-sized European companies, using CDP corporate environmental disclosures as a central input for investment strategy and company assessment. The fund was selected by a consortium of 11 French institutional investors including BNP Paribas Cardif, Caisse des Depots, CNP Assurances, and Credit Agricole Assurances.

The Fonds Objectif Biodiversite draws on CDP's corporate datasets spanning disclosures from over 23,000 companies across climate change, water security, biodiversity, deforestation, and plastic pollution to evaluate companies' dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities related to biodiversity. Mirova, a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, is working with CDP to build dedicated methodologies for assessing corporate nature transition maturity on a quantitative scale, aligned with TNFD requirements on governance, strategy, stakeholder engagement, and performance.

The fund has an initial duration of five years and primarily targets European small and mid-cap companies, aiming to support transitions to sustainable business models and invest in innovative biodiversity solutions. CDP and Mirova have jointly identified indicators for screening out companies involved in detrimental activities in biodiversity-sensitive areas, including those linked to deforestation commodities. A scientific committee comprising biodiversity and sustainable finance experts, including CDP representation, oversees the fund's theory of change, impact indicators, and corporate engagement principles.

The Fonds Objectif Biodiversite represents an early commercial application of biodiversity-linked investment strategy supported by standardised environmental disclosure data. As the TNFD framework gains traction globally, including increasing uptake among Asia-Pacific companies, the Mirova-CDP collaboration demonstrates how primary disclosed data can underpin fund-level biodiversity assessment methodologies. The fund's structure, combining geospatial analysis, sectoral materiality assessment, and CDP-reported footprinting metrics, may serve as a reference model for biodiversity-focused investment products in other markets.

Key figure — EUR 100 million fund size