Companies should quickly establish and deploy nature positive aligned strategies, according to a global advisory firm and an NGO that on Monday released a step-by-step guide for doing so, in order to contribute to global conservation targets.
Advisory firm Pollination and WWF published the “Nature-Positive Strategy: Practical guidance for corporates”, which aims to help corporates figure out how to create a strategy that will help them adapt to what it described as the nature positive transition.
“We sometimes hear from corporate leaders that they feel daunted by what they perceive as the amount of complexity involved and as a result are unsure how to go about getting started responding to the nature challenge,” said report author Laura Waterford of Pollination.
“For anyone who finds themselves in that situation this report is an ideal place to begin.”
The report highlights the severity of the challenge, noting that more than 1 million species of plants and animals were threatened with extinction in 2019, and there has been a 47% decline in ecosystem extent and condition relative to earliest estimated states.
“Corporates are under pressure to demonstrate they are taking adequate steps to minimise their exposure to physical, transition, and systemic nature-related risks, and to contribute to the systemic changes required to transition to a nature positive economy by 2030,” the report said.
The paper provides six key principles corporates from all sectors could use to help develop a nature positive aligned strategy:
- Integrate objectives for people, nature, and climate
- Apply a holistic definition of nature
- Apply the mitigation hierarchy to contribute to nature positive
- Make a systemic contribution to nature positive
- Identify and act in priority locations
- Work toward an overall net gain in nature
Pollination and WWF emphasised that the nature positive transition represents a significant opportunity for market differentiation and the creation of competitive advantage for forward-looking corporates.
“The level at which a company engages with the nature positive agenda and adapts its business model will be a key determinant of its success in the coming decade, or potential exposure to the erosion of business value,” it said.
Key steps the report urged corporates to make in order to get started included assessing their material impacts and dependencies on nature in direct operations across their value chains.
They should then identify opportunities for risk mitigation and value creation for inclusion, it said.
Setting measurable, timebound targets for nature where possible and prioritising monitoring and reporting against these targets should also be a key first step, as well as enhancing supply chain transparency to facilitate setting science-based targets for nature in the future, it said.
NO REGRETS?
Additionally, companies should implement “no regrets” actions for risk mitigation and value creation in parallel with progressing work on target setting and systems change initiatives.
It described no regrets actions as those that can be made by corporates without waiting to understand whether this action is linked at all with its interaction with nature, saying this was about making a systemic contribution to the nature-positive transition.
Emerging biodiversity credit schemes could be one such avenue for investment, the report said, but stressed that this alone is not enough.
“It should be noted, however, that corporates should not claim to be aligned with nature positive on the strength of purchased biodiversity credits alone,” it said, saying they should apply the mitigation hierarchy across their direct operations and supply chain first.
“In this context, biodiversity credit markets can be one important tool to help corporates invest in nature,” it stated.
EXAMPLES
The report also included case studies of corporates already taking steps to contribute to nature positive outcomes.
Computer and printing company HP in 2021 committed to help restore, protect, and improve the management of around 400,000 hectares of forest globally by 2030, the report said, as a way to address downstream impacts of its business on nature.
In Australia, WWF and supermarket chain Coles collaborated between 2011-18 to undertake a detailed ecological risk assessment of the company’s seafood supply chain.
This supported Coles being able to introduce and certify lower-risk seafood products and improved sourcing of own-brand products, it said.
That stimulated applications for certification by several of its seafood suppliers, which in turn resulted in less harm to marine species and habitats from seafood production, the report said.
Pollination’s Waterford said protecting and regenerating nature has emerged as a key area, alongside climate, where companies are expected to act and plan to mitigate risk and embrace opportunities.
“Pressure to do so is coming from investors, governments, regulators, and customers,” she said.
“This piece of work provides an evidence-based, easy to understand, and practical guide for corporate leaders around the world who are looking to keep on top of the nature agenda and understand how to position their company as a result.”
By Mark Tilly – mark@carbon-pulse.com
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