Why will designing with more biodiversity be beneficial to the real estate sector?

Given that more than two thirds of the world's population will be city-dwellers by 2050, and in view of the alarming potential consequences of global warming, all private and public stakeholders must include biodiversity in every one of their initiatives, whether in the design and construction of a building or the development policy of a district. But what do we mean by biodiversity?

“Biodiversity includes all living things and the ecosystems in which they live. That includes plants, animals, fungi, and even bacteria. So it means all life forms across a variety of environments: oceans, meadows, forests, and gardens, but also any green areas that we have in cities,” explains Catherine Papillon.

Biodiversity can often represent a major challenge and significant costs for cities and real estate developers, but its benefits for both living things and real estate are beyond any doubt. Improving quality of life and well-being, creating social links, reducing heat islands, and retention of rain water are just a few of the positive effects of biodiversity in a city. “Biodiversity contributes to making cities more pleasant; better and more desirable to live in,” is how Catherine Papillon sums it up.
 

“Biodiversity makes buildings more sustainable by creating economic, environmental, and social value. So it’s not just a fashion. At BNP Paribas Real Estate, this subject has been motivating us for many years, not only in our business lines, but also in the buildings we design, manage, or occupy. Since 2016, it has been an important facet of our CSR policy, alongside reducing carbon emissions and saving energy. And we have made strong commitments to making a positive contribution to biodiversity”, adds Catherine Papillon. 

This sense of purpose can also be seen in METAL 57, a demonstrator of BNP Paribas Real Estate's expertise with a major focus on biodiversity. 

Moreover, BNP Paribas Real Estate has developed a set of tools to integrate biodiversity into its activities. It uses catalogues of solutions and analytical frameworks to evaluate the ecological potential of an existing site or building, in order to draw up an action plan to implement. Finally, “with the help of our business teams, we designed and approved performance indicators and targets to steer and measure progress in the long term,” adds Catherine Papillon.