Transition to Nature-positive Business Mode: ESG Special Report II

From December 7 to 19, 2022, the second phase of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Huang Runqiu, COP15 President and Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) in China, said that this outcome document described the vision of "harmonious coexistence between human and nature" in 2050.

GBF sets out 4 four goals including “human induced extinction of known threatened species is halted, and, by 2050, extinction rate and risk of all species are reduced tenfold”, and 23 targets. Among which, Target 15 requires to “Take legal, administrative or policy measures to encourage and enable business, and in particular to ensure that large and transnational companies and financial institutions: 

(a) Regularly monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity, including with requirements for all large as well as transnational companies and financial institutions along their operations, supply and value chains and portfolios; 

(b) Provide information needed to consumers to promote sustainable consumption patterns; 

(c) Report on compliance with access and benefit-sharing regulations and measures, as applicable; in order to progressively reduce negative impacts on biodiversity, increase positive impacts, reduce biodiversity-related risks to business and financial institutions, and promote actions to ensure sustainable patterns of production.

GBF puts forward detailed requirements for enterprises to participate in ecological protection, sustainable use of biological resources and practice of ecological civilization, and jointly promote the protection and sustainable development of biodiversity. As the COP15 presidency, China is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, and is a global leader in biodiversity conservation. As early as 2015, China has issued the Integrated Reform Plan for Promoting Ecological Civilization, regarding biodiversity as an important part of cultivating ecological civilization and upgrading it into a national strategy.

After COP15, China will accelerate the process of mainstream biodiversity and coordinate the high-level biodiversity conservation with high-quality economic and social development. How should Chinese enterprises understand the impact of biodiversity on the global economic system, follow the mainstream trend of biodiversity conservation, seize the opportunities and help the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal GBF? To answer these questions, encourage and help more Chinese enterprises to participate in biodiversity conservation, GoldenBee Consulting released the Towards the Nature-positive Business Mode: Biodiversity Special Report of the ESG Competitiveness Progress Observation Report 2022, which includes:

Interpretation on the curve model of the global common conservation goal - “nature-positive” and its development path proposed by the World Economic Forum (WEF), as well as the analyses on the relationship between the nature-positive curve and the carbon neutral curve and its impact on Chinese enterprises.

Analysis on the application, cases and trends of natural capital accounting methods such as the Natural Capital Protocol, and provide reference for industries, especially those highly dependent on natural ecosystems and facing high natural risks, to fully understand and manage natural capital, resist the loss of economic value caused by natural risks, and transform natural value into business opportunities.

Introduction on the nature-related business action framework launched by global organizations such as the Capitals Coalition and Business for Nature (BfN) to help enterprises incorporate biodiversity conservation into their business decisions.

Survey and analyses on the status of biodiversity disclosures of Chinese enterprises in 2022, and suggestions on how to use the opportunity of COP15 to enhance the materiality of biodiversity issues in corporate sustainability management.

Scan the QR code for the report (Chinese)

For more information about ESG and biodiversity, please contact GoldenBee Consulting’s team at:

Email: esg@goldenbeechina.com

Tel: 010-62132901

Source: GoldenBee Consulting