The assessment of the resilience of OMV’s strategy and business model to biodiversity impacts has not been conducted yet because the TNFD LEAP assessment is still ongoing. The results will provide a better understanding of OMV’s biodiversity impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities, and will be essential in conducting this analysis. The results of the sites that have been assessed thus far show potential changes in natural ecosystems are expected to have a limited influence on OMV’s activities, given the nature of the business. Nonetheless, our biodiversity commitments in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the EU’s biodiversity strategy oblige us to act on our impacts, irrespective of the operational risks to OMV. However, as bio-feedstock will play an increasingly important role in OMV’s strategy and business model, dependency on the ecosystem service of biomass provision will require more attention in the coming years.
ESRS 2 SBM-3 Interaction of Material IROs with the Strategy and Business Model
Geospatial analysis revealed that several OMV sites are within or near biodiversity-sensitive areas. A corresponding summary table can be found in ESRS 2 General Information. To determine material sites, impacts and risks have to be analyzed at site level. OMV started to perform this analysis in the last quarter of 2023 by applying the TNFD LEAP approach to its operational sites. Before disclosing material sites, a full picture of all sites has to be established. We are still in the process of performing this analysis, and therefore a list of material sites cannot be disclosed yet. The activities that have the potential to negatively affect biodiversity are typical for our industry, such as exploring and developing new oil and gas resources, and producing, transporting, and refining these resources. The final use of these resources contributes to climate change, one of the impact drivers of biodiversity loss. New OMV activities, such as the development of geothermal resources or building plants to generate and convert circular feedstock, also have the potential to impact biodiversity (if not managed well).
These activities may also lead to indirect and cumulative impacts on biodiversity in both the short and long term. The effects on biodiversity can limit the availability, accessibility, or quality of natural resources, which may, in turn, negatively affect the well-being and livelihoods of local communities. The degradation of biodiversity and ecosystems is driven by terrestrial freshwater and marine ecosystem use, water and other resource use, climate change, pollution of air, soil, and water, and the potential introduction of invasive alien species, and requires our attention.
To determine site-level impacts and dependencies, a TNFD LEAP assessment has been ongoing since the last quarter of 2023. After working with six pilot sites in the first phase from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024, we plan to continue the roll-out of this assessment to all operational sites (excl. filling stations) in 2025. OMV operates in or near various types of biodiversity-sensitive areas such as national protected areas according to the common database on designated areas, Natura 2000 sites, and key biodiversity areas. The Evaluate step of the LEAP assessment needs to be completed for all sites to provide a list of material sites that impact biodiversity-sensitive areas. OMV is still in the process of completing the Evaluate step and therefore cannot yet provide this list. However, OMV has decided to disclose in aggregate all sites in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas, regardless of their impact on biodiversity-sensitive areas. For details, see ESRS 2 General Information.
We are in the process of evaluating impacts, risks, and opportunities (TNFD LEAP). For the existing sites examined so far, we have not identified material negative impacts with regards to land degradation, desertification, or soil sealing. Based on the ongoing LEAP assessment, we currently have not identified any potential impact of our operations that would affect threatened species. We conduct our business under the assumption that our operations do not affect threatened species, however, deeper, site-level investigations will need to be performed to verify this assumption.