Business will help halt and reverse biodiversity loss

Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history and the biosphere altered to an unparalleled degree. Unfortunately, this decline is also eroding the foundations of our economies, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.

The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), to be finalized and adopted in December at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, will be the biodiversity equivalent of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. It will provide a strategic vision and a global roadmap for the conservation, protection and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems through 2030.

Just as the Paris Agreement led to a wave of climate action, the GBF will accelerate policy changes, stakeholder expectations and the market environment. Biodiversity loss and climate change are inextricably linked. Therefore, delivering the goals and targets of the GBF is essential to meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement and vice-versa.

Businesses have a critical and irreplaceable role to play in delivering the innovation, investment and business models needed to achieve the goals of the GBF, which aims to galvanize urgent and transformative action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

More than half of the world’s economy is highly or moderately dependent on nature. By addressing the drivers of biodiversity loss at a global level, the GBF will help mitigate nature-related risks to companies and their supply chains while creating opportunities for those with nature-positive business models. Companies that fail to address their impact on nature will risk damaging their reputations and falling afoul of regulators.

The World Economic Forum’s The Global Biodiversity Framework and What it Means for Business, a white paper published in collaboration with PwC China, introduces the most business-relevant aspects of the draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). It also introduces key business- and regulatory-driven approaches that must be scaled up to achieve its targets.

The white paper presents case studies of companies already taking action to mitigate nature-related risks in their operations while investing in new business opportunities that contribute positively to the targets of the GBF. This behaviour needs to move from niche to mainstream. Then, the GBF can provide concrete policy direction, signalling goals for biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable use, similar to the Paris Agreement’s role in climate change.

The white paper provides context and potential implications for 10 of the draft GBF’s 22 proposed action targets most likely to result in changes to business strategies or operations across multiple sectors.

The paper also covers six emerging approaches that will need to be scaled up to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, driven by proactive companies and financial institutions, as well as by regulators and other stakeholders. These include:

Corporates and financial institutions will need new expertise to assess the dependencies and impacts on nature in their operations, value chains, investments and loan portfolios; and to report on their plans and progress in managing the relevant risks and opportunities.

Fortunately, there is a growing body of frameworks and guidance that can help companies and financial institutions on the journey to assess, manage and report their nature-related risks and opportunities:

Companies that seize the opportunity to adopt nature-positive strategies will build stakeholder confidence and better manage growing regulatory risks. The GBF will help level the playing field for companies already taking action and will create growing transition risks for those who do not.

Ultimately, all companies will be impacted by and required to act on climate change and biodiversity loss. With over half the world’s economy dependent on nature, the cost is too high to ignore.