Why the IPBES Business & Biodiversity Assessment matters for business and what to expect next

In February, government representatives will meet in Manchester for IPBES12, where member governments will consider and approve a major new Business and Biodiversity assessment.  

That report will draw together current thinking on how business can think about, measure, and take action on the vital interlinkages between business and nature.   

Our Director for Science and Policy, Dr Laura Sonter, is contributing to this process as a Coordinating Lead Author. Because the Assessment is entering its final intergovernmental stage, we cannot comment on draft findings or conclusions ahead of the Plenary.  

However, we can set out what businesses needs to know about the assessment, based on publicly available reports and the IPBES process. 

What is IPBES? 

IPBES, the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, is an independent intergovernmental body. Its role is to help policymakers understand and respond to evolving scientific knowledge regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services. It convenes experts to assess evidence, highlight what is well established (and what isn’t), and provide policy relevant information to decisionmakers – although it doesn’t seek to prescribe policy. 

What is a ‘methodological assessment’? 

IPBES produces global, regional and thematic assessments, as well as methodological assessments. These unique reports are produced by diverse teams of expert authors from across academia, NGOs, and the private sector.    

A methodological assessment focuses on how we measure, analyse, and make decisions about a topic: the frameworks, metrics, indicators, models, data, and tools that help translate science and our knowledge of the natural world into decisions. 

At the Plenary, government representatives will consider and approve the specific assessment’s Summary for Policymakers (SPM). Once approved, the underlying chapters that support this summary are then accepted – this is the step that makes an assessment ‘official’. 

Why an assessment on business and biodiversity? 

Businesses depend on and impact biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, across value chains. Better understanding – and better measurement – helps companies understand their role and responsibly to act, while also identifying risks and opportunities, setting targets, monitoring performance, and supporting transparency and accountability of their nature-related commitments. Ultimately, it will help them take action to protect nature that they – and we – depend upon.  

What businesses should expect from the assessment 

Based on the agreed scope, businesses can expect an assessment that: 

• Categorises the dependencies and impacts of business and financial institutions on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people
• Reviews methods for measuring direct and, where appropriate, indirect dependencies/impacts
• Takes a global perspective across all sectors and business types, across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. However, it will also disaggregate the current state of knowledge across different types of businesses operating in different social-ecological contexts
• Draws on scientific and grey literature and includes Indigenous and local knowledge, using case studies where they exist and are appropriate
• Synthesises the approaches for measurement – covering frameworks, metrics, indicators, models, data, and tools – and illustrates when and why each are suitable to inform action
• Identifies key gaps in knowledge, data, methodologies, and reporting standards. 

The assessment will consider the existing landscape – it is not charged with producing new tools, data, or research. It will also not endorse particular approaches.  

What businesses can expect now – and over the longer term 

If the SPM is approved at IPBES-12, it will become a key public reference point for the relationship between business and nature. It will prompt increased attention, by policymakers, companies, investors, lobby groups, and the public. 

Over the longer term, it will provide a stronger shared evidence base and clearer language to support business strategy, risk management, procurement, and value chain engagement. 

It will also help enable better comparability and transparency as measurement and reporting approaches mature, which will in turn support more robust decision making across markets and policy. 

Why this matters – and what businesses can do next  

Biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people underpin business resources, resilience, supply chains, and long-term value creation. Clearer, more consistent approaches to understanding and measuring business dependencies and impacts can help companies move from good intentions to useful action and positive contributions towards nature positive goals. 

We encourage companies looking to take action on nature to consider the SPM (and, where relevant, engage with the underlying chapters) once approved.  

If you’d like to explore what the assessment could mean for your business, talk to our team about how to better understand, manage, and communicate your dependencies and impacts on nature.  

Talk to our expert team today.

Category: Insight