ACT Biodiversity: the ADEME-OFB methodology for assessing corporate biodiversity strategy

In June 2026, ADEME and the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) published version 1 of ACT Biodiversity, a methodology for assessing corporate biodiversity strategy. It is part of the ACT initiative (Assessing Climate Transition), developed since 2015 by ADEME and the CDP in the wake of COP21. ACT Biodiversity is its first nature-focused offshoot, after more than a decade of work on the climate transition.

This article offers a factual reading of the methodology, based on the v1 normative text and the associated roadtest report (carried out by EVEA on behalf of ADEME and the OFB).

Key takeaways

• ACT Biodiversity is a methodology for assessing corporate biodiversity strategy, developed by ADEME and the OFB, published as version 1 in June 2026.
• It relies on 9 modules and produces 3 scores: performance (0–100), narrative (A–D), trend (+ / = / –).
• The direct operations and upstream modules carry a combined 43 % of the performance score — the heaviest weighting.
• It covers 4 of the 5 IPBES pressures (invasive alien species are not yet fully assessed).
• Key point: ACT Biodiversity does not assess the state of nature itself; that state must be measured by the company upstream.

Where ACT Biodiversity comes from

The ACT initiative aims to assess corporate strategies against the goals of the Paris Agreement. ACT Biodiversity transposes this logic to nature, following the same guiding principles as ACT Climate: a holistic approach to strategy, governance, action and performance, but this time centred on the pressures exerted on nature.

Technical coordination is provided by ADEME and the OFB. Like every ACT methodology, its development followed three stages: methodology development, field experimentation (the roadtest), then refinement and publication — with the release of version 1 in June 2026. The ultimate frame of reference is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: the assessment indicates the extent to which a company's strategy contributes to a "nature-positive" economy.

The 9 modules and their weighting

The methodology structures its assessment around nine modules, whose weight in the performance score varies according to each company's materiality. Modules 1 to 4 rely mostly on quantitative indicators, modules 5 to 9 on qualitative ones.

* Modules 2 (direct operations) and 4 (upstream) are weighted together at 43 % of the performance score, making them the most decisive. The internal split of that 43 % depends on the respective materiality of each company's direct and upstream impacts (formulas W2 = 43 % × %Direct, W4 = 43 % × %Upstream, per the methodology).

This materiality logic is central: it determines the scope of the targets to be set (module 1) and the relative weight of direct operations versus upstream.

The three scores produced

ACT Biodiversity generates a three-dimensional score, in line with the ACT framework:

• The performance score (0 to 100) is the weighted sum of all points obtained. To put the level in context: during the roadtest, the combined theoretical maximum — aggregating the best marks achieved on each indicator — reached 65/100.
• The narrative score (from A, the highest, to D) rests on a maturity matrix with five dimensions: Business Model & Strategy, Consistency & Credibility, Data Quality, Reputation, Risk.
• The trend score (+ / = / –) indicates whether the company is moving toward or away from a "nature-positive" pathway. It combines a subset of forward-looking indicators with a layer of expert judgement.

Qualitative indicators are scored using five-level maturity matrices: Basic (0), Standard (0.25), Advanced (0.5), Next practice (0.75), aligned (1).

Four of the five IPBES pressures covered

The methodology covers four of the five major pressures on biodiversity identified by IPBES: land- and sea-use change, direct exploitation of organisms, pollution, and climate change (the latter handled by reference to the ACT Climate methodologies). The fifth pressure, invasive alien species, is not yet fully assessed, due to insufficient operational indicators at this stage. The assessment covers three major ecosystem types: terrestrial, freshwater and marine.

A decisive point: what the methodology does not assess

This is probably the most important point for understanding the scope of ACT Biodiversity. The methodology assesses companies' strategy, commitments and practices. It states explicitly, in the roadtest report, that "it does not assess the state of nature itself" (page 5), which "must be analyzed by companies prior to the ACT assessment".

In other words: ACT Biodiversity assumes the company already has a reliable measurement of the actual state of biodiversity on its sites and across its value chain. This field data is an entry condition, not an output of the assessment. That is precisely the subject we explore in our article on the role of independent certification.

A three-stage timeline

One thing to bear in mind regarding maturity: the methodology was still in a draft version at the time of the roadtest (results published in January 2026), whose purpose was precisely to identify areas for improvement. The version 1 published in June 2026 has since corrected a number of the findings. Some roadtest results should therefore be read as development lessons, not as the definitive state of the method.

What next?

ACT Biodiversity gives companies a structured framework to position their biodiversity strategy. But an assessment framework, however rigorous, is only as good as the data feeding it. The first roadtest, run on 13 large French groups, gives a quantified illustration: that is the subject of our analysis of the ACT Biodiversity roadtest results.

Certified field data, the condition for a credible assessment. Without an independent, traceable measurement of the state of biodiversity on site, no company can seriously feed ACT Biodiversity, nor CSRD/ESRS E4 reporting. That is the role of Effinature certification, delivered by IRICE — a body accredited by Cofrac under no. 5-0655 to ISO/IEC 17065 (scope available at www.cofrac.fr): turning a state of nature into certified, usable, defensible data. Talk to an IRICE expert.

Sources: ACT Biodiversity methodology v1 (ADEME-OFB, June 2026); ACT Biodiversity roadtest report (EVEA for ADEME and the OFB, January 2026).