Countdown to COP16: Are companies and governments turning the tide on nature loss?

We all depend on nature: our societies, our economies and our businesses depend fundamentally on it and its services. But nature is in crisis. Biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate, and the ecosystems that support life are threatened.

In 2022, 196 countries adopted the landmark Biodiversity Plan (also known as the Global Biodiversity Framework), a roadmap to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.

Companies and governments are taking steps to reverse this trend. But is it enough?

While there is reason for hope and progress has been made, much remains to be done. Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the risks of nature loss and are taking action and making commitments to reduce their footprint, but unfortunately this is not the norm and many still do not fully understand their dependence on nature. This is a critical gap that needs to be addressed.

Governments have a crucial role to play in enabling business transformation, providing direction and a stable environment for change. While some have made progress in establishing protected areas, contributing to the financing of biodiversity and implementing regulations to protect it, many still fall short. Environmentally damaging subsidies, worth $2.6 trillion, continue to massively incentivize activities that harm nature.

At COP16, it will be necessary for companies and governments to work together through ambitious and radical collaboration. Governments must strengthen policies that incentivize nature-positive actions and hold companies accountable. Companies must step up their actions to protect, restore and sustainably use nature in order to contribute to a nature-positive economy for all by 2030.

This is the race of our lives. We now need exponential, decisive and collaborative action at COP16 and beyond.

The infographic on the "Countdown to COP16: Are companies and governments changing the course of biodiversity loss?", its annex and the materials collected in this Trello panel, prepared by Business for Nature, offer a series of data that explain in depth the context of why governments and companies must join forces to achieve a nature-positive world.

• Infographic
• Annex
• Trello