7. How to make business thrive


Because each company’s journey to become nature positive will be different, this brief offers some basic steps and questions that will start any business on that journey. Companies that are preparing to address the challenges and opportunities in the transition to a nature positive approach are closer to the social expectations and the preferences of key customer groups and are already building the mindset and capacity to compete in this new economy. By contrast, the transition will be much more disruptive for those missing or ignoring the signals. They will struggle to win back customers, funders and talent, whose priorities will have shifted. [50]


7.1 Understand the baseline


To start, business leaders and owners must look at where they currently are:


— What is the contribution of the business to national and global emissions and how can business shift to renewable electricity?


— How can the business eliminate waste streams, recycle and reuse resources and become a more circular business?


— What are the environmental goals of the nations where the business operates and how can it contribute to this?


— Can the business have a positive impact on nature and contribute to rebuilding and (re) generating nature in the locations where it operates?


— What can the business do through its products, services and practices to improve human wellbeing and community resilience?


— How can the business educate consumers on the value chain of products and their impacts?


— What is the future of products, and how do we shift to making them longer-lasting, reusable or even obsolete in favor of more sustainable business practices or products?


— How can the business engage with local communities to support social and nature positive economic development?


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This realism will enable a company to evaluate how viable its business model is in relation to the expected transformations in its sector and markets. It can also explore key risks and opportunities relating to strategic and operational decisions – from where and how to procure raw materials and inputs, how to reduce costs and risks in production,


Adapt to Survive: Business transformation in a time of uncertainty


To achieve this transformation, business leaders must review their core business assumptions, ask whether the natural and social systems upon which raw materials, talent and capital rely are healthy and resilient, and consider what role they need to play to strengthen them.


A company’s purpose needs to reflect its unique contribution to delivering a nature positive outcome. This has been defined as “a meaningful and enduring reason to exist that profitably contributes to a sustainable economy, while protecting and restoring the social and environmental dependencies it relies upon across the value chain.” [51]


Strategies that reflect this


purpose set out the way the company will deliver its purpose through its business, goals, performance measures, key activities and roadmaps, while reporting its contribution and impact. Many companies are committing to ‘net zero emissions’ by 2050, which will require redefining their purpose and strategy away from fossil fuels and towards the goal of providing or relying on renewable energy.


7.3 Establish nature-focused goals and report on performance


Adopting and delivering a nature positive business strategy, where human and environmental well- being are integral to business, requires meaningful, context- and science-based targets and goals to focus efforts and measure progress. Through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), over 1000 companies, from every sector of the economy,


and how to anticipate which services and products customers will no longer need or want.


Many companies participate in reporting initiatives such as the Carbon Disclosure Project or the Global Reporting Initiative to better understand their own baseline as well as how they compare to others. Business leaders and owners can also download the guidance for companies provided by the Science Based Targets initiative to better understand what actions they can take towards a nature positive future.


7.2 Set a nature-focused purpose and strategy


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