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New White Paper Shares Strategies to Support the Corporate Nature-Positive Journey

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BETHESDA, MD, December 13, 2023 – WHC (Wildlife Habitat Council) offers a new white paper available for download today, The Corporate Nature-Positive Journey | Private Sector Biodiversity Methodologies, From Strategy to Implementation. The white paper is available for free on our website.

It has become clear that the world is facing a biodiversity crisis in tandem with both a climate and pollution crisis. Within the last few decades, climate change mitigation and source reduction have become widely regulated and material concerns to the private sector, but until very recently, the escalating global loss of biodiversity has not been given the same widespread attention. As all industries rely on and impact nature, private sector action is a necessary part of global efforts to stop biodiversity loss and restore habitats.

Because of recent events and initiatives, companies are increasingly exploring how to start, scale up or report on their nature-positive action, generally described as actions that halt and reverse current trends of ecological loss. Initiatives like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) highlight the need for private, financial and governmental sectors to commit to nature positivity. In response to emerging governmental regulations, voluntary frameworks are emerging to help companies meet new reporting expectations.

Unlike other goals like net zero, the concept of “nature positive” is not a destination, but rather an ongoing set of approaches and strategies — the Nature-Positive Journey. The nature-positive journey looks different for every company, and taking the first step can seem confusing or intimidating.

As the only international NGO focused exclusively on enabling private sector action for nature, WHC supports companies through each step of the nature-positive journey — from developing a comprehensive corporate biodiversity plan to operationalizing on-the-ground action to sharing successes. This white paper traces the journey towards nature positivity that WHC has blazed throughout its 35-year history, with examples of available solutions and successful collaborations with members and partners.

About WHC:

WHC has been working at the nexus of business and nature for 35 years. It is the only international NGO focused exclusively on enabling private sector action for nature. WHC builds strategies and frameworks that connect corporate ambition for nature to robust action on corporate lands. WHC works with mostly Fortune 500 corporations, traversing value chains, jurisdictions and geographies. It seeks to integrate nature, especially biodiversity, with climate, equity and engagement to support sustainable ecosystems and healthy communities. WHC’s corporate members represent some of the leading national and multinational corporations seeking to support sustainable ecosystems and the communities that surround them. These efforts have resulted in more than 1,000 certified programs across 47 states and 28 countries.

WHC’s Inaugural Business & Nature Summit Convenes Corporate Leaders to Discuss Challenges and Solutions

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BETHESDA, MD, December 4, 2023 – WHC convened a high-level gathering of corporate leaders working at the intersection of business and biodiversity on November 7, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. The WHC Business & Nature Summit sought to explore the evolving landscape of regulatory and voluntary drivers for nature engagement and support the prioritization of integrating nature-related considerations into risk assessments, disclosures, and business decision-making.

As an originator of connecting companies to nature, WHC brought together a unique mix of companies from across sectors and the value chain. The participants represented a spectrum of professional roles across various industry sectors including energy, construction, oil and gas, mining, chemicals and more. WHC provided the participants with a sales-free environment for frank discussions about the emerging expectations and their real-world implications.

“This landscape of new standards and expectations around sustainability and biodiversity is creating the enabling conditions for companies to act to halt and reverse nature loss,“ said WHC President Margaret O’Gorman. “Our goal with the Business & Nature Summit is to create a forum where corporate leaders can connect across sectors to share and learn how these many new initiatives work in the real world of business so that we can accelerate adoption and implementation to achieve real wins for nature.”

The only international NGO focused solely on connecting companies to nature, WHC brings 35 years of experience in helping corporations understand how to take action for nature. The WHC Business & Nature Summit helped address uncertainty around new ESG expectations through open conversations to ultimately support industry leaders in their biodiversity uplift work.

About WHC:

WHC has been working at the nexus of business and nature for 35 years. It is the only international NGO focused exclusively on enabling private sector action for nature. WHC builds strategies and frameworks that connect corporate ambition for nature to robust action on corporate lands. WHC works with mostly Fortune 500 corporations, traversing value chains, jurisdictions and geographies. It seeks to integrate nature, especially biodiversity, with climate, equity and engagement to support sustainable ecosystems and healthy communities. WHC’s corporate members represent some of the leading national and multinational corporations seeking to support sustainable ecosystems and the communities that surround them. These efforts have resulted in more than 1,000 certified programs across 47 states and 28 countries.