‘On a journey to bring nature back’

NATURE IS AT THE CORE OF BUSINESS


‘There is no business on a dead planet’ – Business for Nature Call to Action

Nature is being degraded faster than at any other time in human history. One million species are near extinction and the world’s tropical rainforests, coral reefs and wetlands are on the brink of collapse. $44 trillion of the global economy – over half of the global GDP –directly depends on nature and its services, and we are at risk of losing it.

The business sector is responsible for a significant portion of these impacts on nature, whilst also depending on it and the services it provides. Understanding these impacts and dependencies, and the risks to businesses from the continued loss of nature is now imperative.

In every crisis there lies opportunity. Businesses across the world could unlock $10 trillion and create 395 million jobs by 2030 by taking action to improve the natural environment, all whilst catering to a consumer-base that is more environmentally minded than ever before.

Despite the business risks associated with the loss of nature and rise of nature-related opportunities, action has failed to materialise. Over the last decade, the global community has not met a single global target to halt the loss of nature and biodiversity.

Businesses have a key role to play in reversing the loss of nature and doing so in ways that work hand-in-hand with Net Zero carbon targets and other Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) goals. Businesses are often seen as part of the problem, but by becoming Nature Positive, it can be a vital part of the solution.

NATURE POSITIVE AS PART OF THE SOLUTION

Nature Positive can help businesses become part of the solution to restore nature and safeguard our future prosperity and wellbeing. Since the inception of the term, it has come to mean several things:

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It is a strategic goal – a clear objective that needs to be achieved in the next decade through business strategy, upskilling and underpinned by OpEx and CapEx.

It is a philosophy – a business model and mindset which puts nature and our future at the forefront of our everyday actions and decisions which creates a wider value system that prioritises nature.

It is an approach – a new way for businesses to operate based on a better understanding of their exposure to risks and dependencies, involving conservation, avoidance, regeneration and recovery of nature.

It is a movement – a collective pursuit that unifies people and their organisations around the reversal of nature loss.

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But how do we accomplish Nature Positive in practice? We need to take action now and consider nature as fundamental to the decision-making process. We will do so by taking steps to understand and evaluate impacts and dependencies on nature across the value chain, identify what is within the control of the business to change and influence, and set a clear roadmap of actions.

There already exists a range of valuable Nature Positive guidance documents, advice and approaches produced for businesses. The purpose of the Nature Positive Business Pledge is to:

• Provide a set of principles that will help deliver Nature Positive as a robust approach and deliver benefits for nature whilst contributing to wider societal and environmental goals;

• Establish a clear process for businesses to become Nature Positive; and

• Showcase and celebrate success.

NATURE POSITIVE BUSINESS PLEDGE PRINCIPLES

The pledge is for all businesses of all sizes and sectors who want to reduce their negative impacts on nature and make nature positive decisions. To accomplish these ambitious objectives, the pledge follows these overarching principles.

Core Principles

The Mitigation Hierarchy – apply the mitigation hierarchy to all facets of the business, i.e. first avoiding then minimising negative impacts on nature, before restoring and finally compensating and offsetting residual impacts.

Long term benefits – generate long-term benefits for nature and the services it provides.

Additionality – for all Nature Positive actions to be additional to what would have happened without these actions, seeking to achieve net gain or net positive impact.

The Precautionary Approach – where there is a lack of evidence or information the precautionary approach will be applied, meaning that where there may be impacts on nature or where the magnitude of the impact is uncertain, realistic ‘worst case’ impacts should be assumed.

Setting the direction

Identify and set SMART targets for delivering Nature Positive outcomes (outcomes that have a measurable benefit for nature), i.e. targets that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound.

Collaborate across the business and between organisations – involve people from all parts and levels of the business and, when possible, promote cross-sector collaboration with government, communities, NGOs, stakeholders, and other businesses to share ideas, ambitions, lessons learnt and experiences.

Integration – build on and mesh with existing commitments (e.g. Net Zero targets, ESG and CSR goals), initiatives (e.g. Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, Science-Based Targets for Nature) and guidance materials (e.g. Biodiversity Net Gain good practice principles, IUCN Guidelines for planning and monitoring corporate biodiversity performance).

Delivering Nature Positive

Follow a structured, comprehensive and evidence-based approach – all businesses should follow a stepwise approach to deliver nature positive outcomes which will involve:

• Assessing and prioritising all of their possible impacts on nature;

• Setting goals and targets that address these prioritised impacts;

• Identifying, selecting and rolling out actions that are costed and sequenced and that describe how they will contribute to achieving targets;

• Measuring and monitoring all subsequent negative and positive impacts on nature and compare them to an established measured baseline, to quantitatively and qualitatively record progress towards targets;

• Reporting on delivery and updating goals, targets and actions as to reflect and respond to new data and evidence.

Address all stages of the value chain – take action to halt nature loss and contribute to its recovery at each stage of the value chain, i.e. supply chain, direct impacts, indirect impacts, and services.

Incorporate Nature-based Solutions at the core of the business strategy. As per the IUCN, Nature-based Solutions are ‘actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits’.

Deliver sustainable use and shared benefits of natural resources, respecting indigenous and local people’s rights.

Reporting – be transparent and traceable in the regular reporting and disclosure of all Nature Positive activities including the baseline, impacts, actions and outcomes.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

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Nature Positive will not be exactly the same for each business; and

Becoming Nature Positive is a journey for each business to take.

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The Nature Positive Business Pledge will help guide businesses to take action to progressively halt and reverse their impact on nature through their entire value chain and with increasing ambition. This journey will be suited to all businesses, no matter their size, sector or where they are on their Nature Positive journey.

The Pledge will not set a specific target. Instead, the businesses signing up will be encouraged to set their own path towards Nature Positive, in line with the principles and with the aim of contributing to the Global Goal for Nature: halt and reverse nature loss measured from a baseline of 2020, achieve net positive by 2030, and full recovery by 2050. It will also encourage aligning with governmental national strategies and targets, such as the UK’s legally binding nature targets being set though the Environment Act 2021.

Businesses will need to work together to understand how each business can set evidence-based targets. The Pledge will encourage basing targets on those released by the Science-Based Targets for Nature and applying the approach developed by the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

The Pledge will set up a ratcheted commitment system which will be reviewed annually. This will be similar to international climate goals, where a company will be able to commit to something simple to deliver at first, and periodically increase the ambition and extent of their commitments over time. If a company does not periodically increase their ambition (at least once every three years), they will no longer be part of the journey to Nature Positive, and therefore will not be committed to the Pledge.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER NATURE POSITIVE INITIATIVES?

The Nature Positive Business Pledge is the only initiative of its type in the UK, built upon the experience and feedback from UK businesses. It aims to build on Nature Positive initiatives to take a step wise journey that will enable businesses to take action and track real progress towards bringing back nature.

The Global Goal for Nature provides an overarching objective to aim towards; businesses will be able to use the resources created by Get Nature Positive, as well as other knowledge hubs, to understand how to take action; and the Pledge will expand on work completed by the Business for Nature call to action to call out government to take ambitious action.

Beyond Nature Positive initiatives, the Pledge will evolve and link with wider ESG goals and incorporate other resources from a range of sources to ensure an adaptable and tailored Nature Positive journey for all businesses.

SIGNING UP TO THE NATURE POSITIVE BUSINESS PLEDGE

A business signing up to The Nature Positive Business Pledge will be:

Following the Nature Positive Business Pledge Principles;

Developing and publishing a Nature Positive Plan. This will include:

• Running a materiality assessment to identify where and how the business depends on and negatively impacts nature (i.e. biodiversity, ecosystem services, soil and water health, and climate);

• Identifying a nature baseline and assessing their impact on nature relative to this baseline;

• Setting SMART and costed targets to address the business dependencies and impacts on nature. These targets should aim to address direct impacts and impacts along the value chain;

The expectation will be that businesses signing up to the Pledge will themselves annually:

Assess their progress towards delivering the targets set out in the Nature Positive;

Plan and publish a report on this progress – for example, as part of an ESG report;

Review the Nature Positive Plan and ratcheting up the commitment every three years, increasing the scope or level of impact addressed through the Plan; and Undertake an information sharing activity. This could be a webinar, document or other media format that promotes, supports or demonstrates Nature Positive