How can businesses play a part in nature’s recovery?

It’s a question we hear a lot in the RSPB’s business teams. In today’s blog, Katie Wakefield, RSPB’s Head of Business Engagement, shares some insights into the myriad of ways we are supporting businesses on their nature-positive journey.

The starting point

At the RSPB , our mission is to ensure that nature is protected, restored, and valued. This involves working with everyone: communities, politicians, and businesses. Being nature-positive in 2024 and beyond means much more than individual changes; it requires a change in the way we do business. And the impact businesses can have is huge.

There are so many ways that businesses are already embracing nature, from Faith in Nature bringing nature into the boardroom, Triodos Bank investing in nature restoration, and PwC rolling out mandatory nature and biodiversity training to their global workforce.

What decisions a business makes will depend on their sector and setup, and we are here to help all businesses go further, faster, and be a fundamental part of the solution to the nature and biodiversity crisis. For example, this week has seen the release of the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) scheme in England, bringing developers even closer to the nature crisis, and that’s something we are here to support.

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Each journey will be different

Businesses will naturally be at different stages in their journey with nature. While the recent flooding in the UK has refocused attention on the detrimental effects of extreme weather and its impact on people and their businesses, from behind a desk it can be easy to feel removed from the crisis. All sectors, from finance and investment to retail, production, and transport, have an impact on nature, and understanding this impact is the starting point, whether it’s directly through land use change, or indirectly through supply chains and investments.

We believe all businesses can be part of the solution, and there are three areas of particular importance – first, we know that we need increased investment and funding for nature; secondly, we need to relook at how we do business, developing best practice for business operations and advice; and finally, we need businesses to be an advocate for nature, requesting strong regulation and support from the government. To achieve these three things, we are working to build best practice models, delivering on-the-ground nature recovery, increasing RSPB ’s visibility and advocacy, and building strong relationships with businesses, coalitions, and stakeholders.

We want to work in partnership with business for the benefit of nature recovery.

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Hands-on support

In our Business Engagement teams, we have experts working across all these areas, engaging with businesses to support our aims to restore, protect, and value nature:

• ?Our Conservation Investment team is working through nature markets to scale investment into nature, as demonstrated through our pioneering partnership with the Co-op supporting the UK Peatland Restoration. We work to increase investment in nature and the development of Biodiversity Net Gain units in the UK.
• We offer a Business Conservation Advice unit that works directly with businesses on their biodiversity strategy and estate management, currently supporting the management of more than 10,000 hectares of land for nature via these partnerships – that’s an area about the size of Manchester – showing a different way to manage land, and our partnership with idverde UK showcases the amazing improvements that can be made.
• Our Corporate Partnership team brings all these areas together and manages key relationships with businesses, bringing together brand awareness, staff engagement, corporate volunteer days, and holistic partnerships across all areas, for example, Ella's Kitchen are restoring wildflower meadows and are embedding nature into their advocacy.

We’re keeping busy, and through all these relationships, we can drive tangible change for nature.

Putting a spotlight on housing development, the release of Biodiversity Net Gain guidance this week in England shows a step in the right direction and is directly relevant to our partners Morgan Sindall Group plc and Barratt Developments , who feature alongside other housebuilders in this Future Homes Hub video . Biodiversity Net Gain requires all new developments (with a few exceptions) and infrastructure to ensure that where nature is harmed in the development, some land must be restored for nature. This is a positive step, but it’s not a silver bullet.

More broadly, businesses need to be looking across their operations, from their finances to supply chains to how they engage their staff, stakeholders, and clients. Last September, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) sent positive signals, enabling businesses to more broadly disclose and track their impacts on nature. Change is coming, and with new frameworks like this, it is easier for businesses to begin to make tangible changes to the way they do business, putting nature at the heart of their operations.

The RSPB is ready to play our part in supporting all businesses, wherever they are on their nature journey. Do contact us to see how we can support you in bringing nature into your business.

Nature is in crisis; together we can save it.

?? Get in touch: [email protected]