New framework will allow firms to assess their impact on nature
Businesses can now assess their impacts on nature loss using science-based targets as part of a move to “get nature into the boardroom”.
Research shows that the biodiversity crisis is as serious as the climate crisis, yet there is less information about how companies drive nature loss, because this data is not being disclosed. The Science-Based Targets Network (SBTN) is providing the first framework for companies to report their impacts on nature as part a new frontier of corporate environmental reporting.
SBTN is releasing guidance for companies measuring how they contribute to land degradation, and the use and pollution of freshwater. Companies can then work out what impacts they should focus on reducing and what targets they can set to achieve that. Reporting systems for oceans and species abundance are still being worked on and are to be released in the coming year.
Already, more than 2,600 companies report on their carbon emissions using science-based targets, and the new framework is part of a move to make business take account of nature in the same way. Erin Billman, executive director of SBTN, said: “We are in the midst of interconnected crises. We cannot limit global warming to 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels] without addressing nature loss, and we cannot halt and reverse nature loss without a stable climate.”
The UN says businesses should assess and disclose their impacts on nature by 2030, and the idea of the SBTN is to ensure that there is consensus on how companies do that. Billman said: “It’s moving nature into the boardroom … there is enough information for companies to be able to assess and prioritise where to take action.”
As part of the pilot release, 17 companies, including H&M, Kering, Nestlé and Tesco,
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