Three global business coalitions have released co-produced foundational guidance to lead companies to a “nature-positive” future, as corporate focus on risks and dependencies ramps up.
Business for Nature, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and the World Economic Forum (WEF) released sector-specific guidance for businesses to take action on nature loss on Tuesday.
The group of coalitions state that only 5% of companies have assessed their impacts on nature, with only 1% understanding their dependencies.
The guidance will act as an early roadmap to provide summaries of potential key impacts and dependencies on nature, the group said.
“Businesses can, and should, already begin taking credible action to help reverse nature loss and contribute to a nature-positive, net-zero, and equitable future for all,” they said in a statement.
They added that “the release of this new set of sector-specific guidance provides companies with a consistent approach to start or advance their nature-positive journeys”.
The individual sector-specific guide covers 12 industries:
- Agri-food
- Built Environment
- Chemicals
- Construction Materials – Cement and Concrete
- Energy
- Fashion and Apparel
- Financial Services
- Forest Products
- Household and Personal Care Products
- Travel and Tourism
- Waste Management
- Water Utilities and Services.
“Every business has a unique relationship with nature. To achieve a net zero, nature-positive, and equitable future for all, we can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach,” Eva Zabey, CEO of Business for Nature told Carbon Pulse.
The roadmaps were drafted in consultation with companies including H&M, Kering Group, and Ikea, as well as several NGOs and government experts, the coalition group said.
The actions complement other guidance produced by TNFD, set to release its recommendations on Sep. 18, and those developed by the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), according to the group.
SBTN and TNFD are seen as processes businesses can follow to assess, commit, and disclose their nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities, whereas the guidance released Monday provides a broader view of transformative business actions, based on the typical impacts and dependencies for each sector, the group said.
By Tom Woolnough – tom@carbon-pulse.com
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