Advancing Biodiversity Action Across the Fashion Sector with STICA+
As nature-related expectations continue to rise, biodiversity is becoming an increasingly important business issue for the fashion and textile sector. Companies are being asked to better understand their impacts and dependencies on nature, respond to evolving stakeholder expectations, and prepare for emerging reporting and target-setting requirements.
To help its members navigate this transition, STICA+ partnered with The Biodiversity Consultancy to deliver a biodiversity capability-building programme for apparel and textile brands. The programme was designed to turn awareness into action, equipping participants with the knowledge, tools and confidence to integrate biodiversity into business decision-making and identify practical opportunities for progress across their value chains.
The Challenge
The biodiversity agenda is evolving rapidly, making it increasingly challenging for businesses to translate emerging expectations into action.
Emerging regulations and frameworks, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), are reshaping how businesses assess and manage nature-related risks and opportunities.
For many fashion brands, translating these developments into practical action can be challenging. Organisations need to understand where biodiversity intersects with their operations and supply chains, identify their most significant impacts and dependencies, and determine how emerging guidance can inform business decisions.
STICA+ sought specialist support to help participating companies navigate this rapidly evolving landscape, build internal capability, and establish a strong foundation for biodiversity action.
Our Approach
The Biodiversity Consultancy designed and delivered a sector-specific biodiversity programme tailored to the realities of the apparel and textile industry.
Through a series of interactive workshops, expert-led learning sessions and dedicated support clinics, participants developed a practical understanding of biodiversity fundamentals and the implications of leading frameworks, including CSRD, TNFD and SBTN.
- The programme focused on helping organisations:
- Understand nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities across their value chains
- Identify and prioritise material biodiversity issues
- Explore approaches to biodiversity strategy and target setting
- Develop practical action plans using the AR3T framework (Avoid, Reduce, Restore & Regenerate, Transform)
- Build internal confidence to engage with emerging reporting and disclosure requirements
To support peer learning and real-world application, the programme also incorporated fashion-sector case studies, facilitated discussions, expert Q&A sessions and office hours, creating opportunities for participants to learn from both specialists and their industry peers.
Outcomes
By the end of the programme, participating brands had:
- Developed a stronger understanding of why biodiversity matters to their business and how emerging nature-related expectations are likely to shape future decision-making.
- strengthened their capability to assess impacts and dependencies, prioritise material nature-related issues, and interpret evolving frameworks and guidance
- Come away with practical, business-relevant actions that could be implemented immediately within their own organisations
The programme also helped establish a shared foundation for biodiversity action across the STICA+ network. This work led to the creation of the Nature Stewardship Guidance, providing them a practical framework for integrating nature into business strategy and decision-making.
