Taking nature into account should become our second nature

Fortunately, there are organisations that have already gained considerable experience in dealing with these questions. They have found practical answers and have already produced a whole range of best practices. We name a few. 

Embedding nature into your strategy: best practices 

• Start with a Nature Assessment to evaluate the impact and dependency of your own activities as well as those in the value chain.
• There are good frameworks available, such as those of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN). Use them.
• Involve all relevant stakeholders, such as local communities, indigenous people, NGOs and investors, in a timely manner. Their ownership, knowledge and support will prove to be of great value. 
• Formulate clear, science-based targets: make them measurable and link an achievable schedule to them.  
• Begin with more qualitative targets to make progress and start learning. 
• Develop nature transition plans, which describe how the various nature-related goals are embedded in the organisation and processes. 
• Make technology and data work for you: there are plenty of nature data sets, geographic information systems and smart tools for data analytics. They make your analysis, assessments and decision-making better. 

Even if risks are not material right now, start thinking about the risks in the longer term and how to prepare for these. Furthermore, see how nature and nature-based solutions can be part of your climate mitigation, how you can contribute to reducing nature degradation and support the global biodiversity goals as well. 

Addressing nature impacts and dependencies: a practical example

Data limitations on the upstream value chain locations constitute a hurdle often faced by companies in assessing their risks and dependencies on nature. A coffee company addressed this issue by partnering with a global non-profit organisation that tracks social, economic and agricultural impact across multiple crops and industries. The NGO supports the coffee company directly at the farm level by conducting farm audits, focusing among other things on deforestation and environmental conditions. On a global level they analyse high-resolution satellite imagery to identify and prevent coffee-related deforestation. This partnership allows the company to address nature-related issues by implementing solutions tailored to the needs of local communities. 

Toward a nature positive future 

We can help you develop actionable plans on integrating nature into your organisation’s strategic framework, using experiences from Dutch and multinational companies across a variety of sectors. Our experts bring a broad spectrum of expertise from compliance and reporting to auditing. 

Furthermore, we work together with WWF Netherlands in developing practical tools that support companies in their nature positive journey. This has resulted in two reports. 
 'Nature is next' supports the financial sector in developing nature-related strategies and implementing them in their business processes. 'Nature is now' is a guide for corporates in all sectors to take concrete steps towards a nature positive future. Because for every company that takes nature-related risks into account, there is a world to win — both environmental and entrepreneurial.