A proposed biodiversity measuring metric initiative needs to factor in the interplay of climate change and proposed actions, rather than simply focusing on observing changes, an expert told the Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney Tuesday.

Simon Ferrier, chief research scientist at Australia’s national science agency the CSIRO, was commenting on the Nature Positive Initiative’s nine draft indicators, which were launched for consultation at the summit, arranged by the Australian government.

The indicators represent the first universal approach to measuring the state of nature, as a way for business and stakeholders to take action and report on nature-positive outcomes.

Ferrier said the proposed metrics made sense and had no big surprises, but that there was “something very important missing from the framework as it stands”.

He said the framework needed to predict future change expected to result from the interplay between ongoing pressures, rather than metrics that observe and report a change in the state of nature once it has occurred.

An example of ongoing pressure he raised was climate change, which he said did not “get much of a mention in the framework” .

“So the interplay between those ongoing pressures and proposed or implemented actions, which I would argue requires a special kind of metric, what some people would call a predictive or leading indicators,” he said.

“[This] could translate proposed or implemented actions into changes expected in the extent condition of connectivity of ecosystems, and in turn the expected consequences of those changes for the consistence of species.”

He argued that predictive indicators have a crucial role in planning and decision making as well as monitoring and reporting.

“The reason for this is that implemented actions … will often not be detectable for some time, especially for restoration actions. So monitoring that relies purely on metrics of observed change in the state of nature may therefore provide an incomplete picture,” he said.

However, he said there is a clear need for more consensus around metrics of observed change in the state of nature.

“I think this framework makes a really major contribution to achieving this, but my plea is to recognise that will only serve part of the solution … and we really need other sorts of other metrics other than what’s proposed there to drive nature-positive outcomes.”

Ferrier also said organisations needed to be careful not to get “locked in” to simply trying to refine the metrics of the state of nature.

Responding to the comments, NPI Convener Marco Lambertini said the initial metrics were the first step of an “ongoing process” designed to encourage companies to begin reporting on their impacts on nature.

“Because let’s face it, today the majority of companies in the world measure … nothing, and this is just unacceptable,” he said.

“So we’ve got to try and make things simple enough for the majority of companies, which are doing nothing, to begin to measure, and we felt this was the right initial approach.”

He noted that the proposed metrics focussed on terrestrial systems, but the initiative will move into marine systems “very soon”, and will begin work on other issues.

“We’re moving into a really super interesting, but also complicated … necessary process of engaging in integrating traditional knowledge assessment, and then there is the matter of national processes, ecosystem services, [and] interconnectivity, which you just mentioned,” he said, referring to Ferrier.

“But if we start too complex now, I feel like we will lose our audience.”

Alexandra Banks, climate and sustainability services Oceania partner at EY, told the panel Australian companies are already coming to grips with new mandatory climate-related reporting requirements that are set to take effect next year.

“There is potential fatigue from corporates around sustainability-related things … but that sentiment is being countered … by recognising that we took too long on climate, and we recognise there is no way to achieve net zero without also achieving nature positive,” she said.

The final metrics are scheduled for release in early 2025.

By Mark Tilly in Sydney – mark@carbon-pulse.com

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