The financial materiality of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation to many sectors can no longer be ignored as an inconvenient externality. There are also serious risks to the financial system and the global economy.
In 2021, countries are expected to agree on global goals for biodiversity and, like the Paris Agreement for climate change, the targets will be delivered by countries and companies.
The sectors that we have identified as key to halting and reversing biodiversity loss are consumer goods and retail, agrochemicals, mining and materials, oil and gas, utilities, finance and real estate.
Companies will need to urgently acknowledge their impact and dependence on nature. This will mean understanding the ways in which biodiversity and ecosystem services are relevant to their business model, be this through sourcing practices and supply chains, in the construction of new sites, or through the ways a company’s operations interact with surrounding ecosystems.
This article appears in our Q3 2020 Public Engagement Report.
Our debt to nature
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