Over half of global GDP – US$44 trillion – is threatened by nature loss. Addressing climate change is necessary but insufficient, as it is currently responsible for only between 11% and 16% of biodiversity loss. Businesses, through land and sea use change, overexploitation or pollution, are responsible for the other major drivers of the nature crisis. It is clear that there is no future for business-as-usual. It is time for business to step up and change the way we eat, live, grow, build and power our lives to achieve a nature positive COVID-19 recovery.
AlphaBeta is proud to have worked with the World Economic Forum on The Future of Nature and Business report that sets out a blueprint for business to achieve 15 transitions and transform the world’s three most nature-destructive socio-economic systems – generating up to US$10.1 trillion in annual business value by 2030, creating 395 million jobs. . The report identifies three socioeconomic areas primed to incorporate nature-positive solutions and blueprints for doing so through 15 key interventions/transitions: (1) Food, land and ocean use; (2) Infrastructure and the built environment; and (3) Energy and extractives. ‘Nature-positive’ means business activity that adds value to the natural world, instead of taking it away or leaving it unchanged. These blueprints can help countries get people back to work, create jobs that are more resilient to change and boost the economy.
Businesses can take practical actions to turn these opportunities into reality by working with governments and civil society to set the agenda, push the transitions forward and accelerate policy reforms. US$2.7 trillion per year through to 2030 will be needed to scale the transitions, including to deploy the technological innovation critical to 80% of the business opportunity value identified.
Below are a number of resources related to the Future of Nature and Business report:
- Full report can be accessed here.
- Methodology note for the report can be accessed here.
- Media briefing for the report, held on July 15, 2020, can be accessed here. This event featured a range of key speakers including:
- H.E. Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica
- Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme
- Sven Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara International
- Hindou Ibrahim, President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad
- Akanksha Khatri, Head of the Nature Action Agenda at the World Economic Forum
- Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Director of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity
- Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Environment and Energy Minister of Costa Rica
- David Perry, President, CEO and Director of Indigo.
- Press release can be accessed here, together with an accompanying op-ed here.
- Media coverage for this report has been significant, including in The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, and GreenBiz.
- The Future of Nature and Business Policy Companion report, which outlines a series of recommendations for policymakers to ensure they protect, invest in, and rebuild natural capital in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, can be found here.
