Companies Moving Towards “Nature- Positivity” In 2022
Companies are only an extension of the individuals in charge of them. Our enterprises must now take responsibility for humanity to weave a sustainable web for future generations. Environmental conditions have deteriorated, and laws have been enacted globally to clean up the mess we have created as humans. Because of these foundations, a completely new movement known as “nature-positive” has evolved today.
Nature-positive is a concept that aims to make the future a better place for everyone by applying economic models that shift away from destruction and pollution and instead support regeneration, resilience, and recirculation. Nature-positive inspires us to reassess our place in the world by exhibiting a new paradigm in which we give more than we get, resulting in a “positive” attitude toward “nature.” This notion strives to modernize procedures throughout the world by promoting good governance, long-term stability, and healthy economies.
Environmental degradation threatens more than half of the world’s total GDP, making it critical for businesses to contribute positively to nature’s aim. According to The Future of Nature and Commercial Research, a nature-positive economy might generate $10 trillion in potential enterprises. It will offer approximately 395 million employments by 2030, with environmental and economic benefits, thanks to 15 structural improvements.
Your Company Now Can Commit and Evolve to Become More Environmentally Friendly Starting 2022
1. Your Company’s Operations Must Prioritize the Environment’s Well-Being
Science-based standards for a nature-positive path are still being disputed, but everyone is being asked to take action, from governments to companies. The recommended quantifiable goals for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are as follows: no loss of nature from 2020 onwards, nature-positive by 2030, and full recovery by 2050.
The world has failed to graduate from the first stage of these goals to reach “zero loss of nature from 2020 onwards,” despite being already 2022. Because society has already been caught off guard, finding ways to put these aspirations into action is much more vital.
Finite, incremental measures are insufficient, and a paradigm shift in how companies see corporate value is necessary. Green must be a dual-purpose vernacular in business, benefiting both the environment and the economy without losing one.
The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) helps create new “nature-based” standards for enterprises to aspire to use a simple framework. We developed our method to advise companies on how they should adapt based on a credible baseline. Let’s look at how these scientific indicators might be applied to the reality of a company and its industry.
2. Evaluate Your Company’s Impact On Supply Chain Validity
According to a McKinsey study, supply chains are responsible for more than 80% of greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of the impact on air, land, water, biodiversity, and geological resources in the consumer sector.
By focusing the lens on the design of their supply chains, companies may understand the natural and human resources they have been inefficiently utilizing at every halting point. Businesses should investigate every stage of their production process, from top to bottom, including a supplier’s supply and indirect operations, to thoroughly assess their total environmental impact. It’s also essential to examine the varying degrees of reliance on natural resources in the environmental, social, and economic categories when visualizing the company’s total environmental footprint.
Once a company recognizes its inconsistencies, it may work to minimize its impact. Companies cannot continue destroying nature in one region while repairing it elsewhere to achieve authentic ‘net’ positive nature status since this may be perceived as ‘greenwashing.’ Instead, a complete approach is necessary, with all-encompassing sustainability at the forefront of business decisions. Putting the company’s supply-chain sustainability goals in context with the global sustainability strategy or agenda would also assist.
Finally, ensuring that suppliers keep their agreements is vital regardless of a company’s size. On the one hand, larger firms have purchasing power under a capitalist economy, allowing them to set supplier terms. Larger organizations should hold their suppliers to high-performance standards and avoid doing business with those that fall short. In comparison, small businesses benefit from being more adaptable and quickly absorbing breakthrough ideas since they are still creating the foundation. If you’re a small business just getting started, don’t be afraid to switch suppliers if they have better environmental policies.
3. Set Goals For Yourself: Fewer Negative Consequences And A Greater Positive Impact
Natural positivity must be included in every company’s KPIs once it has taken the time to evaluate its effect pattern.
Companies should, ideally, establish the key negative environmental effects of their industry. Understanding the most important and long-lasting environmental and social dependencies, such as natural resources and people, can help businesses determine where their environmental footprint is most noticeable. Understanding where these gaps cut the deepest—from raw material extraction to post-consumer waste—can help companies select the most critical sustainable changes.
This knowledge might lead to more positive incentives. Food consumption and waste, for example, are predicted to rise as the population grows. Despite this, research shows that participation in the SDG goal of halving consumer food waste may benefit businesses in the food sector up to 14x their initial investment, suggesting a $380 billion annual potential by 2030.
Businesses must enact laws to mitigate these adverse effects on the environment, extending best practices to suppliers, customers, and other business partners. A company may use the SBTN guide to develop quantifiable targets across priority locations to assess how they might aid in the restoration of key ecosystems. The first step is for firms to hold themselves accountable for their pledges through public, trustworthy channels. Two groups that assist in establishing frameworks for this are the Founder Institute “For Progress” and Business for Nature.
Last but not least, firms must take proactive measures to minimize and mitigate adverse environmental impacts, hence avoiding deficits in the first place. Companies should look for public-private partnership opportunities in various industries to find the most efficient and long-term ways to conduct business. This necessitates a deeper dig into the internal analysis and innovative thinking about how they might be able to employ nearby businesses to upcycle or recycle materials needed for operations.
A Step Forward Towards Nature Positive
Native American Chief Seattle once observed and stated, “Whatever happens, the earth befalls the sons of the ground.” Man did not create the fabric of life; he is merely one strand among many, and whatever he does to it, he does to himself.”
Nature-positivity is essential to secure the long-term health of businesses, their economic ecosystems, and the network of economies that make up our society as a whole. Firms are essentially extensions of the people who run them, and our businesses must now assume responsibility for humanity in order to weave a long-term web for future generations.
