As biodiversity pledges become increasingly common, companies face the challenge of moving beyond promises to deliver concrete, sustainable results. While these commitments reflect an understanding of biodiversity’s important role in resilience, turning them into action is complex, involving constraints such as resource constraints and complex supply chains.
This blog provides a blueprint for bridging the gap between commitments and impact, real-world examples, and emerging trends. By focusing on actionable steps, organizations can shift from purpose to impact, improve sustainability, and contribute to global conservation efforts.
The Biodiversity Pledge
A biodiversity pledge often promises to minimize environmental impact, restore habitats, reduce pollution, and implement sustainable resource management practices. However, the scope and depth of these pledges vary widely. Some companies commit to specific actions, such as restoring degraded land or reducing deforestation in their supply chains, others set broader, long-term goals aligned with international frameworks, such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity or the Science Based Targets Network.
Additionally, biodiversity initiatives often require substantial investment and long-term planning, meaning results may not be immediately visible. As companies commit to these goals, they face pressure to ensure their pledges translate into impactful, transparent actions rather than symbolic gestures, demonstrating accountability to consumers, investors, and regulators. Understanding this commitment is crucial for companies looking to make a meaningful difference and avoid the pitfalls of superficial promises.
The Gap: Pledging vs. Actioning
While biodiversity pledges signal a company’s commitment to sustainability, many companies struggle to translate these promises into impactful action. The gap between commitments and actual outcomes is due to the lack of clear guidelines and frameworks for biodiversity conservation, especially since biodiversity management is more complex than other sustainability goals such as carbon reduction.
Organizations often lack the ecological knowledge to effectively manage biodiversity. Without standardized metrics, many risk-generating commitments are challenging to fulfil or report, leading to potential accountability issues. Biodiversity initiatives require substantial investments, specialized tools, and time to show results, which can frustrate internal and external stakeholders due to the slow, long-term nature of these efforts.
Aligning biodiversity efforts across complex global supply chains is difficult, especially when suppliers operate in ecologically sensitive areas, a company can backfire even if it improves its direct impact. To close the gap, companies need to set realistic, science-based targets, invest in expertise, allocate adequate resources, and ensure collaboration throughout the supply chain, enabling genuine progress toward biodiversity goals.
How Can Companies Gain Momentum Towards Sustainability
As organizations transform biodiversity commitments into real, impactful change, maintaining momentum on sustainability will require a multifaceted approach that integrates strategy, transparency, collaboration, and innovation. Companies move from viewing biodiversity as an isolated initiative to becoming an integral part of their business model.
Setting Clear, vision, mission and Goals
- Companies need to start by setting ESG vision and missiontargets that outline the expected sustainability outcomes of their actions.
- Clear, measurable targets make it easier to track progress and communicate results, internally and externally, establishing transparency and accountability.
- Intermediate goals can also help create milestones that show progress over time, maintaining momentum and encouraging continuous improvement.
Integrating Biodiversity into Core Business Operations
- Rather than treating biodiversity as an isolated goal, companies can integrate it into their core operations and decision-making processes.
- For example, companies in the manufacturing sector may focus on reducing habitat destruction through responsible sourcing, while consumer goods companies may prioritize sustainable packaging that reduces waste and supports environmental health.
Engaging and Educating Employees
- Creating a company culture that prioritizes biodiversity is essential for driving meaningful change.
- This requires educating employeesat all levels about the importance of ESG and how their roles can support the company’s sustainability goals.
Implementing Transparent Monitoring and Reporting Practices
- Regular monitoring and transparent reportingare crucial for ensuring accountability and maintaining stakeholder trust.
- Reporting publicly on biodiversity goals, challenges, and achievements can enhance credibility and build stakeholder confidence.
Building Long-Term Resilience Through Adaptive Management
- Biodiversity is dynamic, and effective management requires adaptability.
- By building flexibility into their biodiversity strategies, companies can create long-term resilience, ensuring that their efforts remain effective and aligned with shifting environmental conditions.
A Brief Look Into Some of the Companies Who Are Gaining Momentum in Sustainability
As organizations strive to close the gap between their promises and actual practices, many are adopting innovative approaches that extend beyond conventional sustainability measures. These strategies tackle biodiversity issues and showcase how businesses can positively influence ecosystems while enhancing their operations. Below are some noteworthy examples and case studies that highlight how companies are transforming their biodiversity commitments into tangible actions.
Forest and Habitat Restoration Programs
In 2023, Apple broadened the scope of the Restore Fund to include new initiatives in South America, particularly in Brazil. These initiatives aim to restore native forests, safeguard biodiversity, and bolster sustainable local economies. In collaboration with local communities and organizations, they are working to ensure that the reforested areas not only thrive but also effectively capture carbon in the long run.
Currently, it is estimated that there are around 5,000 tree species in the Atlantic Forest. Unfortunately, two-thirds of these species are at risk of extinction due to centuries of exploitative practices. The restoration of the rainforest, which encompasses a potential 100 million acres in Brazil alone, is central to the projects supported by Apple in the region. One such project is located just inland from the coastal town of Trancoso in Bahia, where a company is cultivating seedlings from resilient mother trees—those that have survived the destruction of the rainforest across various species.
Renewable energy to achieve net-zero emissions.
SGS, recognised for its expertise in testing, inspection, and certification, has adopted a thorough sustainability strategy to commit to biodiversity. Currently ranked sixth, SGS aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and operates on renewable energy. Their initiatives focused on nature, including responsible land use and minimising impacts in critical ecosystems, and showcased how businesses can integrate biodiversity efforts with decarbonisation goals.
Energy management solutions
Schneider Electric has long-term goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and actively supports biodiversity through energy management solutions. They help customers reduce their environmental footprints, indirectly supporting environmental health by improving energy efficiency and reducing the use of resources. Their sustainability initiatives align with the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which shows how they incorporate biodiversity conservation into their broader environmental strategies.
Biodiversity-Friendly Manufacturing
Moncler, renowned for its luxury outerwear, integrates biodiversity considerations into its fashion and supply chain practices. The company implements manufacturing processes that minimise environmental harm, such as reducing water usage, limiting chemical use, and managing waste effectively. These practices help preserve local ecosystems and promote biodiversity in manufacturing areas. Moncler collaborates with various stakeholders, including NGOs and local communities, to maintain accountability and transparency, aligning with global biodiversity and sustainability standards to reduce the fashion industry’s impact on natural ecosystems.
To build momentum towards impactful biodiversity actions, companies need to integrate biodiversity goals into their business strategies, aligning these with operational priorities like ethical sourcing and resource conservation. Transparency and accountability are essential, with clear, measurable goals and regular progress reports boosting trust among stakeholders. Collaboration across industries, along with partnerships with NGOs and communities, helps scale conservation efforts for greater impact. Innovation is also key, with technologies like AI and blockchain supporting biodiversity monitoring and sustainable practices. This approach enables companies to create long-lasting benefits for ecosystems, communities, and their resilience.
It is time for companies to lead by example. Invest in innovations such as sustainable technologies and biodiversity-friendly practices to not only protect our natural ecosystems but also create long-term resilience and business value. The success of biodiversity commitments depends on the active engagement of every sector, so take the next step today and turn your commitment to biodiversity into bold, transformative action that makes a meaningful difference to our planet.
