A landmark report released this week warns that the current relationship between business and nature is unsustainable and poses an extinction-level threat if left unaddressed. The “Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report,” published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), details how business activities both impact and depend on biodiversity and how the degradation of nature undermines societal wellbeing.
The report, approved February 9th during the 12th plenary meeting of IPBES in Manchester, United Kingdom, is the first of its kind to bring together scientists and business leaders to assess the issue, according to coordinating lead author Ryo Kohsaka of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
“Businesses cannot exist without biodiversity, yet they are exhausting the basis for our daily life and undermining nature’s contribution to people,” Kohsaka stated. He cited examples such as the reliance of fruit production on pollinators, which are dwindling due to habitat loss, and the decline of fisheries as coral reefs die off from pollution and climate change.
Ximena Rueda, a researcher at Colombia’s Universidad de los Andes and co-chair of the IPBES assessment, emphasized the critical role businesses play in environmental stewardship. “Better engagement with nature is not optional for business — it is a necessity,” she said, adding that such stewardship is “vital for their bottom line [and] long-term prosperity.”
The report reveals a significant imbalance in financial flows, with approximately $7.3 trillion in 2023 directed towards enterprises with negative impacts on nature. Around two-thirds of this funding came from private sources, according to the assessment. The majority of government subsidies were allocated to fossil fuels and agriculture, while only $220 billion – roughly 3% of the total – was invested in biodiversity conservation. This disparity aligns with a UN analysis from January, which found that “harmful investments” destroying nature are 30 times greater than those supporting environmental protection.
A key finding of the assessment is the lack of accountability for businesses regarding biodiversity and environmental protection. Less than 1% of publicly reporting companies currently disclose their impacts on biodiversity. The report points to a lack of “adequate rewards and penalties” to incentivize businesses to halt biodiversity loss, exacerbated by a focus on short-term profits and quarterly earnings reports.
However, the report also highlights the inherent unsustainability of current investment patterns. Drawing on previous IPBES assessments, Kohsaka pointed to a 300% increase in agricultural production since 1970, yet warned that up to $577 billion in annual global crop output is now at risk due to pollinator decline and land degradation.
The IPBES assessment outlines over 100 specific actions businesses can capture to mitigate their impact and foster biodiversity, encompassing policy, economic and financial systems, social values, technology, and knowledge. The report calls for greater collaboration between governments, consumers, businesses, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities to create an “enabling environment” for sustainability.
Stephen Polasky, specializing in ecological/environmental economics at the University of Minnesota and co-chair of the assessment, stated, “Better stewardship of biodiversity is central to managing risk across the whole of the economy and throughout societies – it’s not some distant environmental issue, but a core challenge now in every boardroom and cabinet-room.”
The report’s findings were adopted during the 12th session of the IPBES Plenary, with chapters, the Summary for Policymakers, and supporting materials made available for download on the official assessment website on February 9th. A live webcast of the presentation of the results was also accessible via the IPBES website.
