Using Biodiversity Data for Business Sustainability: A Global Corporate Site Biodiversity Index (CSBI) and Trust-Based Strategic Marketing Framework

Businesses across sectors increasingly require biodiversity-related information to meet rising expectations for sustainability, transparency, and nature-positive action. Yet many firms continue to struggle with how biodiversity data can be meaningfully integrated into strategic decision-making and credible sustainability communication. This research introduces a theoretical lens for biodiversity-centric strategic marketing that positions open-access biodiversity data as a strategic enabler of business sustainability. Grounded in Resource-Advantage theory, the framework conceptualizes how firms build trust in systemic change through three interconnected forms of trust: trust in value chain actors, trust in biodiversity-related exchange actions, and trust in open-access biodiversity data. Together, these forms of trust strengthen corporate capacity to assess, disclose, and manage biodiversity impacts and dependencies across different stages of business activity.

The study demonstrates how open-access biodiversity data (e.g., Biodiversity Intactness Index) and database (e.g., WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter) can support corporate biodiversity assessments and alignment with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. A key contribution is the development of a Corporate Site Biodiversity Index (CSBI), applied to 3,674 pharmaceutical corporate sites across the US, UK, Switzerland, France, Finland, India, and other regions. Empirically, CSBI significantly predicts site-level reputational capital (β = .46; t = 31.27; p < .001). Consistent with Resource-Advantage theory, this finding demonstrates how biodiversity-related intangible resources—trust, ethics, and sustainability legitimacy—translate into competitive advantage. CSBI operationalizes “trust in systemic change” by providing verifiable, data-driven evidence of nature-positive performance, creating decentralized stakeholder confidence that extends beyond traditional corporate communications.

The research further illustrates how biodiversity data can support value-creation initiatives such as biodiversity-related innovation and the development of new strategic assets. This includes private biodiversity-focused funds, pioneering biodiversity bonds, and the conceptualization of synthetic stablecoins or other tokenized instruments in which biodiversity data serve as the underlying reference asset. These can be operationalized through decentralized ecosystems, including blockchain infrastructures such as the Solana and Ethereum networks.

Overall, the study provides a scalable framework for businesses seeking to incorporate biodiversity data into sustainability marketing strategy. By integrating biodiversity-centric actions with transparent, data-driven marketing practices, companies can contribute to nature-positive outcomes while strengthening organizational resilience, reputational capital, and long-term legitimacy.