Outputs
Understanding Darwin's biodiversity assessment outputs
Outputs
Darwin's impact assessment engine generates 3 main types of outputs, each building on the previous to provide a complete picture of your biodiversity footprint.
Commodities Inventory
The raw materials associated with your business activities.
What it contains:
- List of commodities traced to your operations
- Quantities by commodity type
- Geographic origins
- Links to your entities (suppliers, products, sites)
Data source: ecoinvent product categories + EXIOBASE commodity mapping
Example output:
| Commodity | Quantity | Origin | Entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 150 t | France | Supplier A |
| Copper | 25 t | Chile | Product X |
| Palm oil | 80 t | Indonesia | Site 3 |
Pressures Inventory
Environmental interventions linked to production and value chains.
Darwin tracks multiple pressure indicators aligned with the SBTN and TNFD frameworks:
Climate Change
| Indicator | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| GWP100 | t CO2eq | Global Warming Potential (100-year) |
Ecosystem Quality
| Indicator | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Land use (occupation) | m2.year | Temporary use of land |
| Land use (transformation) | m2 | Permanent conversion of ecosystems |
| Water consumption | m3 | Freshwater withdrawal |
Pollution
| Indicator | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Acidification | kg SO2eq | Acid rain potential |
| Eutrophication (freshwater) | kg P eq | Nutrient pollution in water |
| Eutrophication (marine) | kg N eq | Nitrogen pollution |
| Ecotoxicity | kg DCBeq | Toxic effects on ecosystems |
Biodiversity Impacts
The quantified effects on biodiversity, expressed in aggregate metrics.
Primary unit: Species.year
Species.year is a metric that quantifies the potential loss of species over time due to human activities. It represents the fraction of species potentially affected, integrated over time.
Impact by Biome
Darwin provides impact scores broken down by ecosystem type:
| Biome | Coverage | Key pressures |
|---|---|---|
| Terrestrial | Land ecosystems | Land use, climate, pollution |
| Freshwater | Rivers, lakes, wetlands | Water use, eutrophication |
| Marine | Oceans, coastal areas | Marine eutrophication, acidification |
Aggregation Levels
Impacts can be viewed at multiple levels:
- Total footprint - Organization-wide biodiversity impact
- By entity - Breakdown by business unit, site, product, or supplier
- By pressure - Contribution of each environmental pressure
- By geography - Regional impact distribution
Data Quality Score
Every assessment includes a quality score based on your input data mix:
| Score | Data Mix | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| A | Mostly pressures data | High confidence |
| B | Mostly commodity/product data | Good confidence |
| C | Mixed data types | Moderate confidence |
| D | Mostly financial data | Indicative estimate |
Use the quality score to identify where investing in better data would most improve your assessment accuracy.
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