With less than 100 days until the UN Biodiversity COP16, the business statement is an urgent appeal from businesses to governments for their immediate leadership to strengthen – not weaken – the policies, incentives and legislation that will drive the necessary business action to halt and reverse nature loss this decade.
The statement delivers five recommendations for nature policies that:
- Make sure business and financial actors protect nature and restore degraded ecosystems.
- Ensure sustainable resource use and management to reduce negative environmental impacts.
- Value and embed nature in decision-making and disclosure.
- Align all financial flows to transition to a nature-positive, net zero and equitable economy.
- Adopt or strengthen ambitious global agreements to address key nature loss challenges.
These bold asks, if implemented, have the potential to unleash new opportunities and establish a strong enabling environment for business action. They include a call for clear regulatory frameworks and incentive mechanisms that would improve corporate accountability and create a level playing field for businesses and financial institutions.
Current economic and business practices are driving nature loss, putting planetary systems under ever-increasing pressure and creating significant risks for our economies and livelihoods. Research shows that over half (55%) of the world’s gross domestic product is moderately or highly dependent on nature – equivalent to $58 trillion.
In December 2022, 196 governments adopted the Biodiversity Plan (also called the Global Biodiversity Framework) in Montreal, providing a whole of society approach with a set of goals and targets to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.