Planetary Responsibility Insights

The new CSRD regulations impose stricter sustainability and transparency requirements on the construction industry. How will this impact your business—and how can you turn compliance into a competitive advantage?

This article breaks down the SFDR and EU Taxonomy, two key regulations shaping sustainable infrastructure investments. Learn how they set sustainability standards, drive green investment, and offer a competitive advantage for businesses and investors.

This article explains how companies in the construction sector and its value chain will need to adjust to their activities under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

This week’s explainer covers the EU’s Nature Restoration Law 2024 and the mutual gains it aims to generate for both the built environment and biodiversity. Companies in land-use industries must act now to assess, adapt, and align their operations with the new requirements.

Costa Rica exemplifies how biodiversity can grow together with the economy. In this article, environmental lawyer Fernanda Jiménez Sauter explains the legal foundations and the consequences of placing nature at the heart of the country’s economic strategy.

The Competitiveness Compass aims to boost Europe’s competitiveness over the next five years. To help construction sector players navigate the EU nature regulation pipeline PRF spoke to a nature conservation policy representative from the European Commission.

Discover how the European Investment Bank (EIB) is driving sustainability through nature-based solutions. In this week’s Nature Finance article, Nancy Saich, Chief Climate Change Expert at the EIB, discusses innovative tools like biodiversity risk scores, green bonds, and blended finance models. Learn why protecting ecosystems and combating climate change are not just ethical choices but essential steps for our planet’s future.

In this week’s article, we spoke with Dr. Joseph Bull, Associate Professor at Oxford University, about bridging the gap between public and private finance to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. Dr. Bull highlights how public policies like Biodiversity Net Gain lay the groundwork for private investments to flourish, creating a positive feedback loop for nature restoration. But scaling private markets remains a challenge.

Michael Svarer, Chair of the Expert Committee, highlights how Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement is transforming sustainable agriculture. With a carbon tax on emissions and subsidies for greener practices, the plan addresses the 50% of CO₂ emissions expected from agriculture by 2030. Key initiatives include 250,000 hectares of new forests and farmland conversion to enhance biodiversity and water quality.

In this week’s Nature Finance article, Eva Zabey, CEO of Business for Nature, calls for urgent reforms to harmful subsidies, which fuel biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change. With $2.6 trillion spent annually, redirecting these funds toward sustainable practices is critical. Collaboration between governments and businesses is key to aligning public spending with global biodiversity and climate goals.

Part of the Planetary Responsibility Foundation's series on Nature Finance, this article highlights the urgent need for USD 200 billion annually to meet global biodiversity goals, with only USD 15.4 billion allocated in 2022 (OECD). Amid a global climate crisis, MEP Sigrid Friis is driving the EU’s green transition, focusing on agricultural reform, energy independence, and climate leadership.

In this week’s Nature Finance article, we feature Celia Francis, co-founder of Ponterra, who is redefining sustainability. Ponterra partners with smallholder farmers to restore ecosystems while ensuring local communities thrive. Ponterra’s flagship project in Panama will plant 6M trees, enhance biodiversity, and provide farmers with sustainable incomes.

As environmental challenges demand urgent action, Impact Investing is rapidly gaining momentum. But what exactly does it mean, and why is it essential for sustainable development? PRF spoke with Birgitte Frost Mathiesen, CEO of Invest for Impact Denmark, who is at the forefront of channeling capital into impact investments for nature and biodiversity.

This article kicks off a series by PRF on Nature Finance - new approaches to investing in the natural world. According to Jens Böhme, CEO of PRF, Nature Finance is about using financial tools not only to protect and restore ecosystems but to be able to scale these efforts.

Our planet faces big challenges, but community initiatives can make a difference. Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya highlights how restoring Tanzania’s Manyara Ranch benefits people and wildlife. Frans Schepers shows nature can heal itself with the right support, while Francisco Delgado shares how local projects, like lighting a soccer field, reduced hunting and boosted development. These are key takeaways from this week’s article.

Leaders from major environmental organizations have given their answers on how we can reshape business practices for a more harmonious relationship with nature. In this article, you can read the key point takeaways on how there are dual benefits of biodiversity and climate action if policy recommendations and successful collaborations are implemented.

The Corcovado Foundation aims to conserve Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula biodiversity through partnerships and community engagement. Their key goals include supporting protected areas, promoting education, ensuring sustainable resource use, and fostering socio-economic benefits.

Dive into this week's article, featuring Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International, as he shares profound insights into how BirdLife tackles biodiversity loss and climate change through global collaborations. Explore inspiring case studies illustrating the imperative of valuing nature for a sustainable future.

This week, the CEO of The African Wildlife Foundation, Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya, shares how AWF leads African conservation with a clear focus: thriving people and wildlife. AWF integrates science, solutions, and policy across 10 countries and 17 landscapes, driving sustainable development.

This week, Bo Øksnebjerg from WWF shares profound insights on their goals, business collaborations, and visionary initiatives for a sustainable future. WWF is committed to ambitious targets: reserving 30% of land and water for nature, halving humanity's footprint, and restoring ecosystems.

In this week's article in What on Earth, Maria Reumert Gjerding, President of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, shares her insights on how biodiversity deserves as much attention as climate considerations.

In this first article in our new series, What on Earth, we have had the privilege of interviewing Marco Lambertini, Convener at Nature Positive Initiative. Through nine questions, Lambertini provides us with invaluable insights into the transformative power of our collective efforts.

In this week’s edition of What on Earth, Liselotte Hohwy Stokholm, CEO at the think tank Ocean Institute, offers a crucial piece of advice to both Danish and international environmental authorities: “Start thinking and acting like businesses”

This week Frans Schepers, the co-founder and Executive Director of Rewilding Europe, shares invaluable insights into rewilding principles and the organization's impactful efforts in promoting nature recovery across Europe. Discover who Rewilding Europe collaborates with and gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and obstacles encountered in their nature restoration work.

Saving our climate might be complex and research from University of Manitoba, Canada, on bio waste material turned into building material with fungi still has some way to go before it can be commercialized and mass produced. But it can turn out to be one of the ways to help save our environment.

Despite being a frontrunner in sustainability, Denmark is struggling with its circular economy, particularly within the construction sector which is responsible for the biggest carbon and material footprint. Denmark’s economy is only 4 percent circular, considerably lower than the circularity metric for the global economy, measured at 7.2 percent.

With 10 new principles, the UIA World Congress for Architects hopes for radical change in the built environment to reach the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. More than 6,000 international architects, and researchers stand guard for the challenge called the ‘Copenhagen Lessons’.

Under a new UK Biodiversity Net-Gain policy, developers have three ways to offset their ‘biodiversity liability’ – the damage their project does to nature – and deliver a biodiversity net gain of 10% . The Biodiversity Net-Gain law aims to halt the decline in one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries.

The future calls for more dedication from those involved in construction or renovation, emphasizing sustainability from design to financing. Valuable time and insights are lost when individuals stick to traditional practices, being accountable for their specific project roles but failing to adopt a more holistic approach.

Many sustainability terms, including ‘biodiversity’ or ‘green,’ are terms used so uncritically today that they have almost lost their meaning. We need to remember why biodiversity is important – it is about the planet’s resilience to climate change more than having some lovely green spaces. Developers and urban planners must stop taking biodiversity as “hostage”.

Currently, there is no publicly available data on how much the construction site contributes to the climate impact of the overall construction. This is due to a lack of data on construction sites’ consumption of materials, electricity and fuel, which is not necessarily routinely collected by contractors.

Biodiversity and construction are two areas that are increasingly intertwined, and biodiversity represents both a recently recognized challenge and opportunity. Collaboration, data sharing, technological innovation, and a changed perception of nature’s role in the built environment can be paths to follow.

First insights from a Danish research project on micro homes reveals the need for new legislation and a mind switch from “my house” to “our future.”

Increasing use of wood contributes to creating more sustainable construction and buildings. But how sustainable is it if we are depleting the forests to meet industry demands without increasing the planting of new trees?