Businesses urge CBD negotiators to be more ambitious
On 10 August 2021, Business for Nature, the Capitals Coalition, UNEP-WCMC, and WBCSD co-hosted a dialogue between businesses and CBD negotiators to talk about the draft 1 of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (the Framework).
At the webinar, business leaders provided business examples of how a transformative Framework can help accelerate business action towards a nature-positive future. They also explored what businesses need from policymakers to provide an enabling environment and create a global level playing field for businesses to speed up and scale up nature actions.
Read our key takeaways, download the slides, and access the full recordings.
Watch Session One
Including speakers:
• Mr. Hitesh Kataria, Manager Sustainability & Strategy, Mahindra Group
• Mr. Marcelo Behar, Vice-President, Sustainability and Group Affairs, Natura &Co
• Ms. Madeleine Ronquest, Head of Environmental and Social Risk Management, FirstRand Group
• Mr. Masao Seki, Senior Advisor, Sompo
Watch Session Two
Including speakers:
• Ms. Renata Pollini, Stakeholder Engagement, Water & Biodiversity Lead, Holcim
• Mr. Marcelo Behar, Vice-President, Sustainability and Group Affairs, Natura &Co
• Ms. Madeleine Ronquest, Head of Environmental and Social Risk Management, FirstRand Group
• Mr. Jayant Kairam, Director, Global Public Policy, Walmart
Our three key takeaways from the webinar:
1) While progress has been made, more ambition is needed to mobilize global business actions.
The Framework should set a global mission to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, include actionable targets to drive business action, value and embed nature into all decision-making, and eliminate or redirect all subsidies harmful to biodiversity.
Opening remarks from Corli Pretorius, UNEP-WCMC, Eva Zabey, Business for Nature, Liu Ning, Executive Committee for CBD COP 15, and Basile Van Havre, CBD Post-2020 GBF Co-Chair made this clear and set the stage for a dynamic discussion.
“If we are to achieve the CBD vision to live in harmony with nature by 2030, the private sector is a key agent of change in this transformation.”
“Engage the businesses in your country to form your international position. Listen to their advice and include them as much as you can. This will make for a better framework for all.”
2) Leading businesses recognized the limitation of the draft 1 and advocated for improvements in the text. Companies came together to share eight suggestions to strengthen the Framework’s ambition.
These eight suggestions were made to support the upcoming negotiations at the OEWG-3, building on Business for Nature’s policy recommendations and on the momentum of the Call to Action, Nature Is Everyone‘s Business, through which over 900 companies are urging governments to adopt policies now to reverse nature loss.
“Current economic and business practices are putting nature under ever-increasing pressure. The Framework should engage businesses so that from being part of the problem, they could move to become part of the solution.”
“Businesses generally prefer to operate in policy environments of certainty and consistency. Transparency and clarity on progress give businesses a clear signal on where to align and accelerate best practices and partnerships in restoration and regeneration works.”
3) In addition to business leaders, we were pleased to see multiple government representatives react to our eight suggestions and share their perspectives at the webinar. These include:
• Mrs. Camille Guibal, national focal point for the CBD, France
• Ms. Monique Akullo, Senior Internal Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Uganda
• Dr. Caroline van Leenders, Senior Process Manager Sustainable Transition, Netherland
• Ms. Frida Diaz, Head of Department for Environment, Mexico
• Mr. Reo Kawamura, Director of Office for Mainstreaming Biodiversity, Ministry of the Environment, Japan
“The high dependency of businesses on nature makes their role in halting biodiversity loss and financing biodiversity conservation very critical.”
Read our full position on the draft 1, including concrete textual amendments and contact us for a follow-up discussion.
If you’re a company, find out how you can get involved with Business for Nature.
