How to become a nature-positive business

As outlined in the two LinkedIn posts (see Only 4% and We only make up 0.01%), the Earth was once characterised by a far greater diversity of mammals and other creatures. Over the last few centuries, however, this has changed dramatically due to the rapidly increasing and widespread human population. The biomass of wild mammals has decreased by more than 85% during this period, mainly due to the impact of human activities such as the enormous soil sealing and cultivation of habitats. Since then, the decline of wild mammals has continued and the sixth mass extinction in the history of the earth can hardly be prevented.

However, many businesses and their leaders do not recognise how their operations impact this particular issue, which exposes them (and all of us) to several risks. After all, the economy and society are fundamentally supported by nature, which provides essential ecosystem services and raw materials for products and services. Recently, the European Central Bank published a report in which it pointed out that around 72% of European companies are highly dependent on at least one ecosystem service. 

The UN Environment Programme's State of Finance for Nature 2023 report shows that private companies worldwide invest 140 times more in nature-destroying activities than in regenerative measures. This emphasises the urgent need for change. Every year, investments worth USD 5 trillion flow into nature-negative activities, while only USD 35 billion is available for nature-based solutions (source: State of Finance for Nature 2023 | UNEP - UN Environment Programme).

This is where the newly created Science Based Targets Network comes in, introducing science-based targets for nature and providing simple and pragmatic guidance for companies to assess and prioritise their environmental impact. The target includes not only the protection, but also the restoration and regeneration of all ecosystems that are important to us. Companies must not only set targets, but also develop monitoring plans and disclose their baseline values. An initial four-step approach called LEAP was developed for this purpose:

• Locate your interface with nature
• Evaluate your dependencies and impacts on nature
• Assess your nature-related risks and opportunities
• Prepare to respond to nature-related risks and opportunities and to report on your material nature-related issues

Becoming a nature-positive business means taking ambitious, science-based and integrated action, both immediately and in the long term. Those that have not yet done so should adopt nature-compatible pathways to create a single, shared, unified goal for managing nature and its associated ecosystems as an (the) important business element. This requires:

• Moving away from a CO2-only view and considering the entire realm of nature, by better aligning corporate nature and climate actions to leverage synergies and avoid climate actions that could harm nature (e.g. large-scale solar farms on nature plains, as currently planned at Bern-Belp Airport)
• Reorganising production processes or rethink business models to decouple business growth from resource consumption, working with other stakeholders along your value chain, within your industry and beyond
• Restoring what the company has destroyed in the past, complementing these actions with additional conservation and restoration measures beyond business operations
• Introduce specific interim targets for 2030 to provide clarity on the level of ambition and actions required. The Global Biodiversity Framework is a great start here.
• Transparent and honest communication about the baseline situation, including communication of failures or deliberate decisions against some or more measures.

Decision-makers are thus called upon to prepare their businesses for the challenges, to set science-based targets for nature and to redirect investments from nature-destroying to nature-positive. This is only possible with a holistic, regenerative strategy. Innovative financing and collaboration with all stakeholders are key to meaningful change that not only strengthens economic resilience but also contributes to a livable future for us all.