Business for Nature presents certificates to ten pioneering Chinese companies as "Leading Voices for Nature"
On May 18, 2023, more than 200 people attended ‘Biodiversity Friendly City’ held in Ningbo, Eastern China. The event was organized with the Natural Ecological Protection Department of the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Department of Ecology and Environment of Zhejiang Province, and the Ningbo Municipal People's Government, and sponsored by the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and Ningbo Ecology and Environment Bureau.
At the event, Chief Advisor of Business for Nature China, Wei Dong Zhou, presented certificates to 10 pioneering entrepreneur companies as "Leading Voices for Nature".
These "Leading Voices for Nature" come from different industries, representing small, medium, and large companies, but all of them have fully considered their impacts and dependencies on nature and are ready to take concrete actions and contribute to halting and reversing nature loss by 2030. This event builds on our previous work with businesses in China alongside our partner SEE (Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology).
The "Leading Voices for Nature" certificate was awarded to:
Francois Fevrier, CEO, WATER AND RR ASIA of SUEZ
Harjan Kuiper, President of Cooperative Rabobank U.A. Shanghai Branch
Thomas Liu, Chairman of Crony Group
Mark LO, President of Holcim China
Xiaohua Qu, Chairman of CSI Solar Co. Ltd.
Fen Tang, Chairman of Changsha Broad Homes Industrial Group Co., Ltd.; Martin Martin Tian, Chairman of Landsea Holdings Co. Ltd.
Wang Wenbiao, Founder of ELION Resources Group
Yiming Wang, President of Ginlong Technologies Co., Ltd.
Ming Ye, President of SINOECO
Yijie Peng, Chief Sustainability Officer of Ant Group
In December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, 196 parties adopted the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (COP15), establishing an overarching goal to halt and reverse the loss of nature and biodiversity by 2030, and strong corporate action is essential to achieving this goal. For the first time in the history of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the GBF also strongly recognizes the role of non-state actors, including indigenous peoples, local communities, businesses, and financial institutions.
In particular, Target 15, which commits governments to require all large companies and financial institutions to regularly assess and disclose their risks, impacts, and dependencies related to nature by 2030 at the latest. This is a wake-up call for businesses to start acting on nature now and is perhaps one of the most transformative targets of the GBF, with the power to reshape our entire socio-economic systems.
Since the adoption of the GBF, Business for Nature has been working closely with our coalition partners and leading companies to update and refine our strategy for the next few years to drive credible business action and policy ambition to achieve a nature-positive economy for all by 2030.
Our priorities are to:
1. Provide the courage, comfort, and technical expertise to governments so that they adopt, implement and enforce ambitious policies that help create a nature-positive economy
We recently launched recommendations for governments on how to include the role of business and finance in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
Keep a look out for our detailed guidance on Target 15 coming soon. We will share information on existing tools, resources, and capacity-building opportunities, and case studies of government policies and business action on disclosure.
2. Scale and speed up business action by strengthening, clarifying and amplifying why and how companies should act now
Read this recent article in Thompson Reuters Context Newsroom on why protecting biodiversity should be a priority for all businesses.
With our partners, Capitals Coalition, the Science Based Targets Network and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) we are highlighting the high-level actions business can take to contribute to a nature-positive world: Assess, Commit, Transform, Disclose.
In September, Business for Nature, the World Economic Forum, and the WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development with input from many specialists and companies, will release Sector Specific Actions for several industries. These actions will outline priority actions companies in these sectors can take to contribute towards a nature-positive economy by 2030.
We will also launch a new Business Action Campaign later this year to rapidly accelerate corporate action on nature and keep the momentum from COP15 alive.
3. Drive ambitious national implementation of the GBF by embedding the role of business in the CBD National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and sharing learnings across regions
Through generous funding from the Global Environment Facility, we are working in Colombia, South Africa and Malaysia to create business-government dialogues to ensure the role of business and financial institutions is fully recognized in their updated National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and ensure successful and effective implementation.
We're also setting up regional platforms to share learnings and guidance, focused in Asia, Latin America and Africa.