COP16 and beyond: mobilizing business efforts for biodiversity
Over the past few weeks, all eyes have been on Colombia as it hosted UN Biodiversity COP16 to discuss the actions required to protect nature, the foundation of all life, and business, on our planet. In addition to state-level negotiations, the number of companies participating in the summit tripled compared to the last summit, highlighting the increasing awareness and understanding of the private sector's pivotal role in halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
COP16 in Colombia: Transforming Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework into action
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 in 2021, is an international agreement aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Often likened to the Paris Agreement for climate change, this framework serves as a comprehensive roadmap for global efforts to safeguard nature and biodiversity. The recently concluded COP16 in Cali, Colombia, aimed to address the alarming finance gap and agree on a monitoring framework to achieve the goals of the Biodiversity Plan, but these issues remained unsolved. This underscores the urgency to advance even more on other fronts, including voluntary actions by the private sector.
In addition to state-level negotiations, the number of companies participating in the summit tripled compared to the last summit.
“The private sector has a pivotal role in halting and reversing biodiversity loss. Leading companies have understood their role in protecting nature and are already addressing biodiversity in their sustainability programs. The COP16 attendance numbers prove that the awareness and understanding are increasing also across the wider global business community,” says Salla Ahonen, Huhtamaki’s EVP of Sustainability and Communications.
Why biodiversity is a critical matter for businesses
The risks posed by businesses’ reliance on nature are manyfold. The World Economic Forum has stated that about half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature, and their annual Global Risks Report underscores the increasing nature-related risks among top global risks.
These findings leave no room for doubt: nature is not only crucial for our well-being but also represents a critical business risk that all companies need to understand and address. Conversely, addressing nature loss can unlock substantial opportunities for businesses. Nature loss and climate change are also closely interlinked, the deterioration of one accelerates the other, while addressing one can mitigate the dangers posed by the other.
Huhtamaki joins calling for policy-driven leadership
Huhtamaki is committed to taking action to protect nature and, together with more than 230 business and financial institutions, calls for high ambition for policymakers to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework. We need immediate leadership from governments to strengthen—not weaken—the policies, incentives, and legislation that will drive the necessary business actions to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. An enabling environment, coupled with regulatory certainty, will foster innovation, transform business models, mobilize investment, and ensure companies are held accountable for their actions and performance.
Assessing our own impacts and dependencies on nature to take efficient actions
We are committed to sustainability and biodiversity. As a new TNFD Adopter, we follow the framework to manage nature-related risks and opportunities so that we can steer our actions to protect nature in most effective way. As stated above, we also support the Business for Nature business statement emphasizing immediate actions to protect and restore nature. These initiatives are part of our broader sustainability strategy to create long-term value and contribute to a healthier planet.
References
- https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/24/Biodiversity-Finance-Factbook_COP16.pdf
- https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2024/
- https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/01/half-of-world-s-gdp-moderately-or-highly-dependent-on-nature-says-new-report/
- https://colombiaone.com/2024/10/30/colombia-cop16-benefits-cali/