1. WHAT ARE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND GOALS?
The Nature Positive Initiative brings together all major global nature conservation organisations, sustainable business platforms and sustainability standard setting agencies alongside research and indigenous knowledge organisations to align on definitions, guidance and metrics that drive genuine nature positive outcomes. Nature Positive is a global goal for nature equivalent to carbon neutral for climate and measured in terms of net-positive biodiversity outcomes. It stipulates the need to “halt and reverse” nature loss by 2030 in order to avoid collapse of Earth biophysical systems with disastrous consequences for humanity and all life on Earth and preserve nature’s existential contributions to humanity. This goal has been adopted in December 2022 by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity as the new global goal for nature (source).
It is measurable, timebound and disruptive as it requires us to protect more of the nature left on the planet, restore as much as possible of what has been lost and degraded, transition key economic sectors from nature-negative to nature-positive practices and redirect the financial flows, public and private, to support these transitions.
2. WHO DO YOU COLLABORATE WITH IN TERMS OF BUSINESSES, AND HOW DO BOTH PARTIES GAIN FROM IT?
The initiative is designed to bring together the wealth of skills and expertise of its members and their long experience of engagement with the private sectors to provide guidance and approaches which are both science based but also practical and implementable in order to deliver credible, demonstrable and genuine nature positive outcomes. At a time when companies and investors are increasingly scrutinised and expected to contribute to both net-zero emissions and net-positive biodiversity goals.
3. WHAT WORKS WELL - AND LESS WELL – IN THE COLLABORATION WITH BUSINESSES?
A growing number of businesses and investors are embracing the biodiversity agenda and the Nature Positive goal. They understand the business, social and reputational case for taking action on nature. However, we are still not seeing enough action at the speed and scale needed. The agreed global goal for nature has created great impetus but the multiplication and fragmentation of frameworks and metrics is also creating uncertainty and confusion. The Nature Positive Initiative aims at addressing this issue and providing clarity and aligned direction.
4. WHAT WOULD BE ONE ADVICE FOR THE COMPANIES THAT IMPACT YOUR WORK?
Assess comprehensively your impacts on nature and develop plans to reduce them in order to achieve a no-net-loss and subsequently a net-positive biodiversity outcome. Do this following high integrity approaches and standards and reporting transparently.
5. IF YOU COULD WISH FOR ONE SPECIFIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP – A COLLABORATION, PROJECT, OR SOMETHING ELSE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Alongside the growth in relevance of the nature agenda over the last few years and culminated with the Kunming-Montreal agreement, many companies and investors have engaged in developing plans to assess, address and disclose their footprint on biodiversity. For example, the Task Force on Nature related Financial Disclosure has seen over 320 early adopters including both financial investment institutions and companies from various sectors.
6. WHICH AND WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIPS DO YOU HAVE WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITIES?
The members of the Nature Positive Initiative advocate for aligned positions on policies to be adopted by national and international institutions. In the first phase of the initiative, we came together to advocate for the UN CBD to adopt a Nature Positive goal in its mission and a set of ambitious targets to deliver it. That was achieved in December 2022 at UN CBD COP15 (source). We are now developing and advocating for national nature-positive regulation effective in supporting the delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework including conservation and restoration targets, frameworks to reduce companies’ footprint and to measure net-positive biodiversity outcomes, redirection of nature-negative financial flows in favor of nature-positive incentives, etc.
7. WHAT WORKS WELL - AND LESS WELL – IN THE COLLABORATION WITH AUTHORITIES?
Governments still act too much in siloes. So, while ministries of the Environment or similar are investing in more protected areas and restoration of degraded habitats, the ‘economic’ ministries like agriculture, mining or economy more generally, continue to drive investments and policies harmful to the environment. And the ratio between the two is massively skewed towards the latter: a total of $1.8 trillion in nature harming subsidies (Earth Track 2022 to fossil fuels $620b, agriculture $520b, forestry $155b, fisheries $50b but also water use, infrastructures, mining), against the less than $100b spent to protect nature. What we need instead is an harmonised set of policies that all contribute to a net-zero emissions and nature-positive outcomes leading to a different economic growth model, one respectful not destructive of nature. It’s possible. And a nature-positive reform of government subsidies coupled with appropriately regulated incentives/disincentives schemes, fiscal and trade policies to accompany the transition and safeguards livelihoods will also drive a redirection of nature-negative private investments. The State of Finance for Nature (UNEP 2023) estimates the scale of nature-negative finance flows from both public and private sector sources globally to almost US$7 trillion per year of which 5 trillion of private finance (source).
8. WHAT WOULD BE ONE ADVICE FOR AUTHORITIES THAT IMPACT YOUR WORK?
Stop taking nature for granted and recognize that climate change and nature loss are increasingly a risk and a cost to our economy, society, and wellbeing. Our economy, society and ourselves as individuals depend entirely on a stable and predictable climate, and healthy and productive ecosystems. The fact that nature has always been there for us, plentiful and rich, doesn’t mean that it will always be. Science is telling us very clearly that under the growing pressure of human impacts we are rapidly approaching dangerous tipping points of entire Earth systems. When that will happen (it is a ‘when’ not an ‘if’ unless we change course) the planet will look and behave very differently from today and we will find it very hard to adapt to an extreme and unpredictable natural world. It is definitely not the legacy we would want to leave to our children and their children.
9. IF YOU COULD WISH FOR ONE SPECIFIC NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATIVE CHANGE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Redirect today’s global $1,8 trillion of nature-negative public subsidies to nature-positive ones. This will also help shift private investments in the same direction and truly achieve systemic change and the end of the ‘subsidies paradox.
ABOUT PRF
PRF is a private, commercial foundation, established in 2022. Our purpose is to help restore and protect the planet’s nature and biodiversity and promote sustainable development. We do this through a holistic mindset, mission-driven investments and projects. A key element of our strategy is about doing business differently and in better balance with nature. Therefore, we invest in and support sustainable solutions and knowledge sharing on how to build and live more sustainably.
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