The Nature Positive Initiative convenes process to foster consensus on measuring nature positive outcomes

MEDIA ADVISORY

As the global community gears up to mark International Day for Biodiversity on 22 May, the Nature Positive Initiative supports the significance of this occasion by announcing a pivotal collaboration.

Working with esteemed global companies Ernst & Young Global Ltd (EY) and The Biodiversity Consultancy, the initiative is committed to establishing scientifically credible, practical, and standardized metrics to bring measurability to the term ‘Nature Positive’, aligning with this year’s International Day for Biodiversity theme ‘Be Part of the Plan.’

At recent climate and biodiversity conferences, the global community affirmed the critical importance of combatting climate change and biodiversity loss. However, while progress tracking towards net-zero emissions is established, measuring efforts on nature recovery remained elusive. ‘Be Part of the Plan’ is a call to action for all stakeholders to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The Nature Positive Initiative, a coalition of 27 diverse organizations, aims to support exactly that by providing guidance on measurability and seeking to ensure accountability to achieve nature-positive outcomes. Defined as more nature by 2030 compared to 2020, this goal is integral to halting biodiversity loss and limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.

Marco Lambertini, Convener of the Nature Positive Initiative, emphasizes that “Nature Positive is not merely a slogan but a measurable goal, driving standardized and comparable nature metrics to achieve genuine outcomes in halting and reversing nature loss.”

EY, a global professional services organisation providing assurance and advisory services, and The Biodiversity Consultancy, a specialist advisor that helps global clients develop integrated Nature Positive strategies, have been selected as the best suited companies to collaborate with to deliver the important work on building alignment on measuring Nature Positive.

Alexandra Banks, Partner, EY Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services, says “The need to establish clear metrics to underpin a globally agreed definition of Nature Positive is critical. It will enhance the integrity of the underlying measurement, reporting and transparency of the shift to a nature-positive future. We look forward to collaborating with the Nature Positive Initiative and The Biodiversity Consultancy on this critical endeavour.”

Malcolm Starkey, Chief Innovation Officer at The Biodiversity Consultancy adds that “businesses and nature must thrive side by side, we fully support the convergence of measures to aid comparability and accelerate a data led transformation for nature-positive outcomes.”

While humanity is understanding and measuring the natural world more accurately than ever, such as through innovations in remote sensing, eDNA, bioacoustics and the growth in citizen science, there is no common approach to being able to know and demonstrate whether, in aggregate, nature is in recovery at different scales.

This lack of consensus on credible yet practical and accessible common metrics to measure genuine nature-positive outcomes hinders private sector engagement, accountability, financial disclosure, and the tracking of progress towards the mission of ‘halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030’ of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022. Consensus on meaningful and practical state of nature metrics will accelerate action towards the Nature Positive goal, demonstrating contributions and avoiding the risk of inaccurate claims.

The Nature Positive Initiative does not seek to replace existing metrics but in collaboration with EY and The Biodiversity Consultancy, aims to identify the best available data to inspire action towards a nature-positive world.

***

Press contacts:

Claire Warmenbol, Head of Communications, Nature Positive Initiative: +41 79 404 1973 – [email protected]

Emily McCoy, Senior Technical Communications Lead, Nature Positive Initiative: +44 73 891 9301 – [email protected]