Nature - will business contribute to the collective challenge?

Super year for nature?

Many commentators are suggesting that 2020 will be a crucial year for sustainability. The truth is that all years are, and will continue to be, but big, round numbers appear to hold a special significance for us, and a range of key policy initiatives are taking place in 2020.

Biodiversity – or more simply ‘nature’ is slowly climbing our collective consciousness. As WWF (and others…) put it ‘the world is where we live’. We’re waking up to the fact that we can’t continue to use our land, water, air and oceans in ways that damage, disturb, pollute and degrade them.

Biodiversity - will 2020 be a super year for nature?

This doesn’t just harm other species (globally, wildlife populations have declined by 60% on average in 40 years) but it also harms us – sooner or later.

Put simply, if we can’t look after our own habitat, we will fail to make decent progress on human, social and environmental development targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or other global challenges such as climate change.

What’s occurring in 2020?

In September 2020 the Biodiversity Leaders Summit will be held. This will provide an opportunity for national leaders to move on from the faltering delivery of the current, “Aichi targets” (these were adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its Nagoya conference to drive focus and activity on biodiversity between 2011 and 2020) and agree upon urgent action necessary to restore nature globally.
2020 is the 75^th Anniversary of the United Nations. Several environmental targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will conclude in 2020 – the overall deadlines being 2030.
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will hold COP 15 – its 15^th Conference of Parties in Beijing in October 2020 – where it should decide on a new 10-year framework for biodiversity. This is important as it should lead the way for natural recovery globally, if the goals and targets are ambitious enough.

Building collaboration

But we can’t just wait for governments. Leading global companies and NGOs have built the Business for Nature coalition to convene a united business voice for nature. Amongst others, they are campaigning to halt the deterioration of the natural world and decline of life on Earth. They are calling on governments to adopt an ambitious new deal for nature that recognises the moral, economic and practical necessity to protect nature.

Some leading business already understand their dependencies and reliance upon nature and natural systems, the nature of bilateral risks and how they rely upon natural capital to build long term value. However, they are just a few, this needs to become common and accepted practice. In addition, there is still a gap between recognising relationships and dependencies, and building sustainable and rejuvenative business models for a flourishing future.

DISCOVER MORE | Sustainability Issues

Biodiversity – the next crisis?

While we’ve been concerned with action on climate and tied up with Covid19, a larger, related crisis is brewing. Businesses are waking up to the need for action on biodiversity.
Biodiversity is one of many issues organisations should consider when developing (or reviewing) sustainable business …

The Diesel and petrol car ban has been brought forward!

UK Government announces diesel and petrol car ban to be brought forward to 2035 while dispute mires COP 26 announcement in a mixed day of climate news.

Sustainability Issues 2020 | Business Purpose

Research shows people are losing trust in public institutions and even capitalism as it is now. What can businesses do to build trust?

Climate | Sustainability Issues 2020

Climate will remain perhaps the most vital sustainability issue of 2020, but the crucial question is, will attention finally convert into meaningful and proportionate action?
The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change required all signatories (almost every country on earth) to …

2020 Sustainability Issues

What will be the big sustainability issues in 2020? Each year we look to identify the emerging and fast-moving sustainability issues (here are 2019’s) we believe will shape sustainable business practice. In 2020 these are not wholly new, but existing issues continue to gather momentum, move …