L’Oréal and the L’Occitane Group are just two of hundreds of brands pushing to make it mandatory for all large businesses to disclose their impact on biodiversity by 2030
With COP27 hitting headlines, we wanted to shed light on another Conference of the Parties that should be on your radar. This December, global leaders will gather to tackle biodiversity issues at COP15.
In the run-up to the event, Business for Nature launched its ‘Make it Mandatory’ campaign. The pledge, which 330 multi-billion-dollar businesses have signed, is pushing governments around the world to adopt a mandatory biodiversity framework via a COP15 Business Statement.
This comes after the publication of a data-driven report this October. It shows that nature impact disclosures are not happening as often and urgently as climate ones, even though two out of three of the world’s most critical risks to our economies are related to the loss of nature.
In fact, more than 18,600 companies disclosed climate change data through CDP in 2022 – a 42% increase year on year. However, only 1,000 companies disclosed data on forests and 4,000 submitted information on water security.
On this, Nicolette Bartlett, Chief Impact Officer, CDP, commented: ‘It is positive to see another year’s growth in disclosure on forests and water security. Yet once again corporate action on nature is lagging behind that on climate. At present, too many companies are blind not only to the material risks they face but ignorant to the opportunities associated with protecting and restoring nature.’
It is thought that making businesses disclose their impact on biodiversity will increase accountability, create fairer competition and promote increased awareness of supply chains and the rights of local communities.
What’s more, there is clear evidence that disclosure of impacts generates action by businesses to become more environmentally friendly. For example, 23,487 suppliers disclosed their emissions in 2021, which resulted in a 231 million-tonne reduction in harmful gas production by these businesses within a year.
More widely, COP15 conversations will revolve around the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This is nature’s equivalent to the Paris Climate Agreement which is set to introduce broad-based action to transform society’s relationship with biodiversity. It will also ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled.
The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) is taking place in Montreal between the 7th and 19th of December 2022. You can track updates here.
If you are interested in signing the ‘Make it Mandatory’ business statement, click here. Read the full report here.
