Dr Stephanie Wray

Ecologist and Director, Nature Positive

Stephanie Wray is an experienced Project Director and biodiversity expert with over 25 years’ experience in the assessment of impacts on biodiversity and the development of corporate sustainability strategies.

Prior to joining RSK, Stephanie was Global Environment Director for Hyder Consulting, now Arcadis. She has also held several non-executive, interim management and strategy consulting roles at organisations including Peter Brett (now Stantec), Atkins (now part of SNC Lavalin), National Grid and ERM. Stephanie specialises in business impacts on biodiversity having developed, with co-Directors at Biocensus, a method of biodiversity foot-printing. She holds an MBA from a top business school and takes a genuine interest in her clients’ business risks and opportunities.

She is active in the field of biodiversity research and chairs both the Environmental Net Gain Working Group and the Strategic Policy Panel of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), a learned society of which she is a past President. She has previously acted as Project Manager or Project Director for a range of large, multi-national projects involving complex environmental issues and multiple stakeholders.

Contributed to

1

ESG and sustainability—biodiversity and nature-related risks

Practice notes

This Practice Note provides guidance on biodiversity and business and why this area is rising up the corporate agenda, alongside climate change. It provides details on a natural capital approach, nature-based solutions (NbS) and how a whole value chain approach is relevant. The Practice Note also provides information on the business risks (such as reputational or facing biodiversity litigation) and opportunities associated with biodiversity loss, as well as details on future reporting frameworks such as the Taskforce on nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD), Science-Based Targets (SBTs) for Nature and any requirements stemming from the Greening Finance and Sustainable Investing Roadmap. There is also guidance on key frameworks, such as the Environment Act 2021 requirements around biodiversity net gain (BNG) and conservation covenants and the 2023 Strategic Framework for International Climate and Nature Action, as well as international developments such as COP26, COP27 and the Conference on Biological Diversity (CBD), including COP15. Finally, the Practice Note provides practical steps through a mitigation hierarchy and examples of how businesses should address biodiversity impacts, such as conducting a biodiversity footprint assessment and formulating a biodiversity strategy.

Environment

Practice Area

Environment

Panel

Contributing Author

Experience

Non executive Chairman of the Mammal Society (2021 - Present)
Managing Director of Nature Positive (2020 - Present)
Director of RSK Biocensus (Nov 2011 - Present)
President of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) (2015 - 2018)
Managing Director (1995 - 2010)