Nature Positive Business Pledge officially launched

1st March 2023


A new framework developed by IEMA to help businesses act on biodiversity loss and contribute towards nature restoration has officially launched today.

The Nature Positive Business Pledge has also been developed in partnership with the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, WSP, the Aldersgate Group and ICC United Kingdom.

It launches with support from major organisations across the infrastructure, transport, utilities and construction sectors, including BAM UK & Ireland and South Western Railway.

Signatories are expected to develop a ‘nature positive plan’, which includes undertaking a materiality assessment to identify where and how the organisation depends on and impacts nature.

They must also identify a nature baseline and assess their impact relative to this, and set SMART and costed targets to address the business dependencies and impacts on nature.

Signatories will then annually assess progress and submit a report guided by the Pledge’s core principles, which centre around applying the mitigation hierarchy to all facets of the business and generating long-term benefits for nature.

Seeking to achieve net gain or net positive outcomes, and assuming a worst case impact on nature scenario where there is lack of evidence or information, are also among the guiding principles.

IEMA CEO, Sarah Mukherjee MBE, said: “Establishing the Nature Positive Business Pledge could not come at a more critical time as businesses both domestically and internationally set about implementing what was agreed at COP15.

“By providing a practical approach, the initiative will place businesses on the front foot in terms of playing their role in reducing biodiversity loss and working towards nature restoration. IEMA urges businesses to engage."

Initial details around the Pledge were released during COP15 last year, which concluded with a landmark agreement to “halt and reverse” biodiversity loss by the end of the decade.

It is for organisations of all sizes and sectors that want to reduce negative impacts on nature and play their part in its restoration – recognising that different sectors face unique challenges – and aims to offer them support in their journey to nature positive.

“Transformative and collective action is urgently needed to reverse the loss of biodiversity,” said Mark Johnston, Chair and Director of the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum.

“Businesses play a critical role in making this happen, and this Nature Positive Business Pledge provides the necessary clarity on what is needed.”

Find out more about the Pledge here.


Transform articles

Interview: VIN + OMI provide the shock factor

Trailblazing eco-designers and ‘ideologists’ VIN + OMI speak to Adam Batchelor and Chris Seekings about their work promoting sustainability across the fashion industry and beyond

1st June 2023

Read more

Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, talks to Chris Seekings about how inequality is destroying the planet, and what we can do about it.

1st June 2023

Read more

Improvements in satellite monitoring are changing how we measure air quality, widening its potential to include regulation. Rick Gould investigates

1st June 2023

Read more

We need to embrace the spirit of the pioneers of the water sector and planning to enable new models that challenge the status quo, says Sandra Norval

1st June 2023

Read more

The global clothing industry is not only unfair but increasingly unsustainable. Huw Morris reports

1st June 2023

Read more

Extinction Rebellion has promised to step up protests and civil disobedience after a list of its demands for the UK government fell on deaf ears in April. Will this help or hinder the cause, asks Chris Seekings

1st June 2023

Read more

The onus on business to report on nature is accelerating, with multiple frameworks and standards taking shape. Catherine Early explains

1st June 2023

Read more

IEMA and Deloitte partnered in 2022 to deliver an important piece of work that has become the foundation of our activities on green skills. Lisa Pool reports

1st June 2023

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert