Climate change and biodiversity loss are among the most pressing challenges of our time. Both are driven predominantly by human activities and have profound consequences for people and for the
ecosystems on which we depend.
In line with this commitment, and to better understand its own environmental impacts, the Royal Society undertook a biodiversity footprinting exercise to inform its Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2025–2030. A wide range of approaches and indicators exist for biodiversity footprinting, which can be difficult to navigate, particularly for organisations engaging with the topic for the first time.
This guide is intended to be a practical resource to help organisations get started. It sets out the key steps, options, and considerations involved in biodiversity footprinting, supporting organisations to better understand their impacts on nature and to identify potential nature-related risks. As an initial step, biodiversity footprinting can provide a stronger evidence base for decision-making and help organisations take more informed action to reduce and manage their impacts on biodiversity.
This guide is intended as a practical aid; approaches and evidence will continue to evolve, and some aspects may change as the science and best practice of biodiversity footprinting develop.