Why nature is next in-line to join carbon in the boardroom

The rise of net zero has put the climate at the top of the agenda in company boardrooms, but the wider problem of nature decline is catching up thanks to a number of initiatives at home and abroad.

Although awareness of carbon reduction is now mainstream in business, campaigners have long warned that focusing too narrowly on carbon could hold back action on other environmental issues such as biodiversity loss –  the decline in the volume and variety of life on Earth.  

The alarming decline of nature in the UK and beyond is already well documented. The UK is in the top 10 per cent of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and top in the G20. Globally, the world has lost 69 per cent of its wildlife in the past 50 years alone.

While the changing climate is a key driver, nature loss is also directly attributed to business activities that lead to habitat destruction and pollution.

Legislation is catching up. From November 2023, developers in England will be required to deliver a 10% ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ when building new housing, industrial or commercial developments. Much of this is expected to be delivered by purchasing biodiversity enhancement ‘credits’ – similar to carbon offsetting.

However, research shows that even businesses with strong sustainability plans are still too often failing to align their climate plans with nature. According to a new study of over 650,000 corporate sustainability initiatives between 2000 and 2021 by Imperial College London, only 6 per cent related to biodiversity – although the number is rapidly rising.

Corporate standards

A growing list of new initiatives and campaigns now hope to push nature up the business agenda.

At the end of 2022, a historic international deal to protect nature was agreed at the UN’s COP15 nature summit (a sister programme to the annual COP climate summits). Since then, international frameworks designed to help businesses tackle the climate crisis have widened their remit to include nature.

For example, the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a now-mandatory framework used by corporates to track and manage climate risks to their business, has been joined by a Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). The latter is also expected to become mandatory for large companies in the long-term.

More recently, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a global standard used by hundreds of major businesses to set and validate their net zero targets, has been joined by a Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) focusing nature restoration. Several multinationals have already signed up to the new SBTN, including Nestlé, Tesco, H&M Group, GSK and AB InBev.

Business leadership

In the UK, a number of business groups and companies have signed up to the new Nature Positive Business Pledge, a commitment to halt and reverse business impacts on nature.

Business leaders have also partnered with Save Our Wild Isles – a joint campaign from WWF, the RSPB and the National Trust – to produce four short films specifically aimed at UK businesses. The first film, The Business of Nature, explores actions employees and businesses can take to reduce their impact.

Guidelines for businesses

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has recently partnered with both the TNFD and SBTN schemes, along with 60 leading companies, to produce Roadmaps to Nature Positive guidelines for businesses.

The document provides a checklist of actions to assess, commit, transform and disclose performance on reducing and reversing impacts on nature.

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