Nature Accountability

Three things: money, commitments, supply and demand

Following the sharing of a few thoughts over COP26, some suggested I consolidate them back into the original piece. Here they are in one spot! happy New Year ;)

The over-riding and rather intoxicating impressions from Marseille and COP26 was that business and the finance sector are beginning to realise that nature is rather essential to the global economy, and more importantly to their bottom lines.?They are also beginning to realise that there is more to nature than a bit of forest or mangrove lost in their footprint, but that they are innately dependent on nature one way or another and their effects on it are diffuse and far reaching…. Deep into their supply chains and markets and into their ESG risk profiles and investor ratings.

Some have been aware of this fact for a decade or more, whilst others are rather new at it. The newer ones seem to be rather pleased with themselves and are all shiny and show-off in the way they promise the world, whilst those who have been taking this on for a bit longer are a bit more die-hard and wry without wanting to tarnish the enthusiasm.

There are, however, a few things that worry me about the froth of enthusiasm and this starts with a fear that this may be rhetoric … more rhetoric. Many are saying no: not this time. This time it is for real.?This time we have to do something now. I guess the same will be said at Glasgow in a few weeks, but I, forever hopeful and pragmatic, hope like hell that this is really the beginning of something meaningful, genuine and actioned.

I am delighted by the hundreds of billions of dollars that are promised by the banking sector for finance for nature. But what does this actually mean and how will those billions reach nature in the field and how will it provide the tools for conservation and ecological restoration and livelihoods? Who will be the beneficiaries of those many billions? The banks themselves??Will the money circulate to make more money for money’s sake??I struggle to see how the financing posed will genuinely fund the types of projects that are needed to activate and implement the millions of actions and activities that are needed to change the course we are on.?

I am absolutely delighted by the promises of Nature Positive and congratulate those companies that have made this commitment – all of you know that I have been a champion for objectives led frameworks for decades and it is wonderful to see the WBCSD and WEF and many others support and articulate a framework for nature positive. I love especially the crucial role of the mitigation hierarchy and the need to have net gain or net positive impacts for biodiversity at a direct footprint level and for this to extend beyond into the universe of our supply chains and markets like a scope three emissions requirement for nature…?But let‘s keep our feet on the ground and make sure that all that happens in this space is genuine and implemented and is delivering conservation on the ground… Don’t wait for the metrics to be perfect, or for the miracle one number that will provide you with a magical indicator for biodiversity so that you can tell the world you are doing your bit.?There isn’t one - because it is not appropriate!??Do your bit, record and monitor what you are doing and make sure it is meaningful by being relevant to the local ecosystem and its integrity and function and resilience to climate change and other threats. Make sure it is relevant to the landscape functionality and takes into account other players and land-users and communities in the landscape. Work with them to make it work together.?Make sure it is relevant and nested within the jurisdictional objectives and targets of the country you are operating in and that this is supported in the national biodiversity strategic action plan that feeds into the global CBD biodiversity framework.??And if there isn’t an NSBAP where you operate, support the development of one. Make sure that there are local community beneficiaries and that they are involved in the story.?Not just because nature it is likely essential to them through dependencies, but because you want to make sure that the promise of those financing billions are reaching the correct beneficiaries and that business for nature is not just making business out of nature but is sustainably changing the nature of business.

Finally, there is an enormous burden on the shoulders of civil society at this juncture. As with the carbon markets, there is an emerging gap between supply and demand. The demand will be insatiable for fantastic, sustainably financed fully resourced and capacitated, successful projects bending that curve of biodiversity loss towards those positive 2030 and 2050 goals. How do we increase the supply of conservation projects of every shape and size and ecosystem and species imaginable to meet the increasing demand we are seeing to fill those promises on nature positive? What do those projects look like? Who will do them? How and where will they be delivered and who will be the beneficiaries??I know, for example, that of the 307 projects FFI delivers in the field 99% are with local communities working with nearly 390 partners from business, NGOs, communities, universities and government. Funding is a constant struggle, with short cycles and a patchwork of co-finance intended to share the burden. So this model really does need to change and nature-based enterprise and nature-based solutions will have to be part of the equation … business and the finance sector are essential to this.?But I warn you, bankers making a buck out of nature for the sake of finance and profit will not work and will deliver nothing UNLESS, I guess, the models change and they see impact investment with long time frames and realistic inclusion of local community beneficiaries as part of the equation and deliver mechanism.

I feel somewhat panicked by the burden of what needs to be done, but I also feel excited by the opportunity at hand. I am terrified by the ignorance of ivory towers, and the lack of pragmatism and application in the theoretical postulations that money will fix everything and if not, technology will. ?But I am genuinely hopeful and can’t wait to be part of it all. I will be there to hold it all to account. Nature accountability.