Chemical pollution contributes to biodiversity loss in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. However, environmental risk assessment (ERA) remains largely focused on individual chemicals, a limited number of standard test species and effects measured under controlled laboratory conditions. This creates a critical gap between regulatory assessment and the protection of complex ecosystems exposed to chemical mixtures and multiple environmental stressors. This presentation draws on the special session “Biodiversity and Chemical Hazard/Risk Assessment: Regulatory Frameworks, Integrative Approaches and Research for a Sustainable Future,” held at the SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting in 2025. Expert presentations, panel discussions and a live audience survey involving more than 100 participants examined whether existing ERA frameworks adequately protect biodiversity and how these frameworks could be improved. While current approaches provide a vital basis for regulatory decision-making, participants identified shortcomings in taxonomic coverage, ecological realism and the consideration of indirect effects, species interactions, chemical mixtures and multiple stressors. They also highlighted the challenges of translating laboratory-derived effects into consequences for populations, communities, ecosystem functions and resilience. Closing this gap requires measurable biodiversity protection goals, improved integration of ecotoxicological and ecological evidence and broader application of modelling, new approach methodologies and higher-tier assessment tools. ERA should also be more closely connected with environmental monitoring of chemicals, biota and biodiversity through interoperable and accessible data infrastructures. Stronger coordination between chemical, environmental and biodiversity policies is essential to translate scientific evidence into preventive regulatory action. Such developments would enable a shift beyond assessing the effects of individual chemicals and contribute more effectively to protecting biodiversity under real-world conditions.