Nature-based climate solutions to grow globally

Subject

Biodiversity and climate change.

Significance

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has reported that 1 million animal and plant species face extinction and that many ecosystems are moving closer to critical thresholds, describing the rate of global change in nature as "unprecedented in human history". The report calls for "transformative change" in economic and social structures that drive biodiversity loss. As in other areas of global environmental concern, improving biodiversity action is increasingly seen not just as a matter for states, but also as a challenge for the private sector, subnational actors and the international financial system.

Impacts

• Companies will face increased pressure to widen due diligence requirements to include environmental risks.
• Data gaps on quantifying the value and impact of biodiversity at a localised level will continue to limit policy mainstreaming.
• Efforts to increase biodiversity finance flows will look to mirror the example of climate finance.