The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has published its assessment on the impact and dependencies of businesses on nature and biodiversity.
It found that “less than 1% of publicly reporting companies mentioning their impacts on biodiversity in their reports”.
The assessment was undertaken by 79 experts over three years, drawing on thousands of sources, and approved by 150 governments in Manchester this month. Its central finding is that every business impacts and depends on biodiversity. It also found that $7.3tr was invested in activities that have a negative impact on nature in 2023, while only $220bn was invested into conservation and restoration activities.
A survey of financial institutions, representing 30% global market capitalisation, found that the biggest barriers to carrying our nature risk assessments are:
- Access to reliable data
- Access to reliable models
- Access to scenarios
The report reads: “No single method to measure and manage impacts and dependencies is suitable for all business decisions, and which aspects should be measured depends on context and the action to be taken or decision being informed – multiple methods or metrics will often be necessary.”
The authors recommend that companies create organisational policies and management systems for measuring, monitoring and reporting nature-related information. They also recommend setting commitments and targets and integrating biodiversity into corporate strategy.
They also recommend measuring and monitoring biodiversity impacts and outcomes of actions at the operational level and mapping the value chain to “prioritise and inform action”.
The PIEBS assessment recommends that governments “incentivise or mandate corporate disclosure and reporting” on nature-related information and lead capacity-building efforts.
Assessment co-chair Matt Jones stated: “This is a pivotal moment for businesses and financial institutions, as well as Governments and civil society, to cut through the confusion of countless methods and metrics, and to use the clarity and coherence offered by the Report to take meaningful steps towards transformative change