‘We’re at the point where the word “feasible” needs to be replaced with the word “necessary”’ /

‘We are at the fork in the road, at a time of great risk, great threat, but also great opportunity,’ says Marco Lambertini, convener of the Nature Positive Initiative (NPI), an alliance of environmental NGOs, sustainable business platforms, academia, and indigenous and local governments networks.

Contagious sat down with Lambertini to discuss the uptick in investment in biodiversity, the misuse of the term ‘nature positive’, and the responsibility of the business and finance sectors to achieve the global goal for nature: to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 on a 2020 baseline, and achieve full recovery by 2050.

The full interview is exclusive to Contagious IQ subscribers, but we’re sharing a preview of the content by highlighting three of the key challenges discussed.  

‘Nature positive’ is a science-based target – think of it as biodiversity’s equivalent to ‘net zero’ – but uses of it as a corporate buzzword have spiked since the language was adopted at the Cop15 biodiversity conference in 2022. ‘We’re at a point where ‘nature positive’ is widely used, sometimes as a slogan, not so much as a measurable goal,’ says Lambertini. 

‘It’s not a fluffy word, it’s not “I plant a tree, I’m nature positive”. No, to credibly contribute to a nature positive world, you need to demonstrate you have more nature in your operations, in your company, in your value chain, in your investment portfolio, than in 2020, as a minimum. It’s ambitious, but it’s necessary, because nature is in free fall right now, and we know that it’s exacerbating climate change and affecting economic development and social security.’

Nature is in crisis, and the next decade of work will determine the trajectory of the planet, says Lambertini. ‘Last year, for the first time in millions of years, the forests of the world were not a net-sink of carbon but instead a net-emitter of CO2. It’s because of deforestation, wildfires and climate change, that we’re now beginning to see nature’s essential services like carbon sequestration begin to shrink... We still have time – but the window of opportunity is narrowing by the day.’

The World Economic Forum estimates that roughly half of the world’s total GDP (about $44trn) depends on nature – not to mention water and food security, health and wellbeing, and mitigating climate change. ‘Almost every single Sustainable Development Goal depends directly or indirectly on nature,’ says Lambertini. 

‘For the past 200 years, we’ve been growing our economic wealth globally – not equally distributed, obviously – while exhausting natural resources and natural capital. That can’t continue… Combatting nature loss is not only a moral duty, but also a security issue for our economy and society.’ Is it feasible for every business to work towards a nature positive outcome? ‘We’re at the point where the word “feasible” needs to be replaced with the word “necessary”,’ he says.

The full interview (along with many more Expert Perspectives) is available to read here.