Operationalizing transformative change for business in the context of Nature Positive

Abstract

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) includes a specific target for reducing businesses’ negative impacts on biodiversity and increasing their positive impacts to contribute toward the GBF mission and vision. “Nature Positive” is also emerging as a rallying call for mainstreaming the GBF. Merely tinkering with business as usual will not deliver these ambitions; transformative change is needed. However, how to operationalize transformative change toward Nature Positive and the GBF through meaningful actions and targets remains unclear, risking confusion, greenwashing, and failure to achieve global goals. This perspective draws on literature on social change to offer a practical framework for understanding and operationalizing transformative change for business toward a Nature Positive future. We define and describe the role of transformative change within a Nature Positive ambition and summarize the different types and scales of actions companies could take. This framework could help to plan mutually reinforcing actions and improve accountability for Nature Positive claims.