At COP15 in 2022, hosted by Montreal, Canada, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. Now, businesses are embracing the GBF framework again to create a “nature-positive” business by 2050.

Nature is the foundation of our economy

According to the World Economic Forum, more than half of the global GDP, about $44 trillion, depends directly on nature and its resources, making it highly vulnerable to environmental degradation. This clearly illustrates that our economy and natural ecosystems are deeply interconnected.

The health of biodiversity is also vital in limiting warming within 1.5°C. Ecosystem protection and restoration could provide over a third of the climate mitigation needed to reach the Paris Agreement goals. Businesses play a key role here by adopting sustainable practices, reducing impacts on nature, and investing in ecosystem restoration.

Lastly, WEF notes that investing in nature could unlock $10.1 trillion in economic opportunities annually and create nearly 400 million jobs by 2030. However, despite this potential, only a few major companies currently set biodiversity targets, posing an opportunity for everyone to come together – public and private collaboration, to protect biodiversity and shift to a nature-positive economy.

Click the link to watch thought and business leaders make a case for shifting to this new economic model: Voices for Nature: The call for a new economic model.

Nature Positive is a global societal goal: “Halt and Reverse Nature Loss by 2030 on a 2020 baseline and achieve full recovery by 2050.” Simply put, it means ensuring more nature in the world in 2030 than 2020 and continued recovery after that (The Definition of, 2023).

A nature-positive economy – an economy that operates within planetary boundaries and no longer incentivises the overexploitation of nature. To meet this goal, the WWF released the Global Roadmap for a Nature-Positive Economy, a comprehensive agenda for action highlighting the global-level economic reforms needed to facilitate an equitable transition to nature-positive.

The Global Roadmap will engage and inform policymakers in national and international forums and build consensus on what is needed to create a nature-positive economy.

WWF’s Roadmap has five pillars – areas where progress is needed globally.