New Reports Chart Pathways for Nature-Positive Transformation Across Key Industries and Cities

Published

16 Jan 2025

2025

A new World Economic Forum report series identifies $1.4 trillion in nature-positive opportunities across four sectors globally, including $160 billion for the Chinese automotive sector.
Just 37% of the world's 500 most populous cities have strategies to sustainably manage and protect nature, and spending in urban nature has declined between 2018 and 2023.
The new research finds that the four sectors impact nature loss through drivers such as land and ocean use, pollution, and emissions, and identifies five actions per sector to curb these impacts.
Read the sectors reports here and cities reports here. Follow more on the Annual Meeting here and on social media using #WEF25.

Geneva, Switzerland, 16 January 2025 – The World Economic Forum today published six reports aimed at accelerating the global shift toward a nature-positive future. Five of the reports focus on sector-specific strategies for critical industries – offshore wind, mining and metals, ports, and automotive (global and a China Deep-dive) – while the sixth examines urban financing solutions for building sustainable, nature-positive cities. The report series, developed in collaboration with Oliver Wyman, outlines actionable pathways to protect biodiversity, achieve climate goals, and ensure economic resilience across sectors and geographies amid growing environmental challenges.

While 78% of Fortune 500 companies have set climate targets, only 12% have established targets to halt or reverse biodiversity loss. Similarly, just 37% of the world's 500 most populous cities have strategies to sustainably manage and protect nature, and spending on urban nature - natural areas and ecosystems within cities, such as parks, green roofs, wetlands, and other green or blue spaces - has shown a decrease between 2018 and 2023. Yet safeguarding nature is essential to tackling climate change and healthy ecosystems underpin human health, well-being and economic stability.

Despite positive momentum in corporate actions, efforts to address nature and climate challenges remain insufficient to restore planetary health, according to new World Economic Forum research. Corporates urgently need more investment pathways and opportunities that demonstrate how profits, growth, and jobs can - and should - align with ecological prosperity. In response, the report series highlights the critical dependencies and impacts of urban areas and four key sectors on nature, offering actionable, sector-specific strategies for corporate leaders to drive transformative change in their industries. Companies such as Volvo Cars, Anglo American, Vattenfall, CATL and the Port of Antwerp are among those that have provided guidance and insights to inform sector transitions for a more nature-positive future.

"The business case for safeguarding nature is clear, and companies can start with no-regret actions today,” said Akanksha Khatri, Head, of Nature Action Agenda, World Economic Forum. “Every industry has unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to protecting nature. By offering tailored, sector-specific strategies, we are equipping leaders with the tools to accelerate meaningful action and deliver transformative change now.”

Nature is not only critical for a healthy climate; it is the backbone of the global economy. An estimated $44 trillion of economic value generation – more than half the world’s GDP – is estimated to be moderately or highly dependent on nature. Yet biodiversity and functioning ecosystems worldwide are threatened by pressing issues such as land and sea use change, climate change, pollution, water scarcity and invasive species. Companies, investors and government leaders cannot afford to delay addressing nature loss any longer. Although momentum among companies and cities is on the rise following the COP16 biodiversity summit in Colombia in October 2024, sectoral guidance and strategic steps to inform nature-positive efforts have so far been lacking.

The report series aims to fill this gap and guide industries forward at pace. It highlights priority actions both within and beyond value chains. These include tailored, industry-specific steps that companies can take to become nature positive, such as avoiding and reducing impacts from operations and materials, as well as cross-sector collaboration on policy and standards. In addition, the new research identifies $1.4 trillion in nature-positive opportunities across four sectors globally, including $160 billion for the Chinese automotive sector specifically, highlighting the urgent need for unlocking new financing models and advocating for systems change.

“We are beginning to see nature emerge as a key issue for leaders across industries, the financial sector, and the public sector,” said Nick Studer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Wyman. “These reports are critical to translate ambition on nature into action, by providing clarity around a complex landscape and offering leaders the tools they need to start transforming their operations towards a nature-positive future, today.”

“The ocean is essential to supporting life on Earth and drives the global economy – ports and shipping cover 80% of global trade in terms of volume, and offshore wind is one of the fastest growing renewable energies,” added Alfredo Giron, Head, Ocean Action Agenda, World Economic Forum. “Businesses must take the lead in transitioning to sustainable practices within the blue economy, safeguarding ecosystems and ensuring a prosperous future for communities and industries alike."

About the World Economic Forum’s Nature Positive Transitions work
The World Economic Forum’s Nature Positive Transitions series, developed in collaboration with global management consultancy Oliver Wyman, Business For Nature and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, outlines different pathways to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, the mission at the heart of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The series consists of three transitions: sectors, cities and finance.

Sector Transitions to Nature Positive engages key sectors and businesses to build nature-positive pathways, develop sector-specific strategies, and catalyse transformation and innovation across business operations and value chains, in support of global nature and climate goals.
Nature-Positive Cities drives practical, coordinated action at the city level, aiming to transform urban development by embedding nature into the fabric of city planning and design.
Financing the Nature-Positive Transition engages banks, insurers, asset managers and asset owners to allocate and scale capital towards the transformation of corporates’ operations and value chain.

About the World Economic Forum Centre for Nature and Climate
The Centre for Nature and Climate is a multi-stakeholder platform that focuses on protecting the environment and fostering sustainable practices. The 2025 State of Nature and Climate Briefing Paper presents the latest data on planetary health and global corporate progress in addressing climate and nature challenges.

About the Annual Meeting 2025

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, taking place in Davos-Klosters from 20 to 24 January, convenes global leaders under the theme Collaboration for the Intelligent Age. The meeting will foster new partnerships and insights to shape a more sustainable, inclusive future in an era of rapidly advancing technology, focusing on five key areas: Reimagining Growth, Industries in the Intelligent Age, Investing in People, Safeguarding the Planet, and Rebuilding Trust. Click here to learn more.

All opinions expressed are those of the author. The World Economic Forum Blog is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around the key topics that shape global, regional and industry agendas.