Nature Positive Initiative: Developing State of Nature Metrics and Guidance for Applying them

The Nature Positive Initiative (NPI) is a global, multi stakeholder collaboration working to define and advance the concept of ‘Nature Positive’ across business, finance, policy, and civil society. As commitments to nature positive outcomes grow, there is increasing demand for clear, consistent ways to measure and track progress towards this global goal and measure the health of nature.

The Biodiversity Consultancy (TBC) has been working with NPI to develop a standardised set of State of Nature Metrics. The objective of the project is to bring greater clarity and measurability to the term ‘Nature Positive’ by establishing metrics that are scientifically robust, practical to apply, and globally relevant. A core feature of the work is the development of a tiered metrics system, designed to accommodate different levels of data availability and technical capacity, and to be applicable across a wide range of sectors and geographies.

During the first phase of the project in 2024, TBC led a comprehensive landscape assessment and supported NPI in testing potential metrics for terrestrial and freshwater realms against defined scientific and practical criteria. This process was informed by extensive engagement with NPI members, expert stakeholders, and a public consultation to ensure both credibility and usability.

Building on this foundation, the ongoing second phase focuses on developing practical guidance and supporting companies piloting the metrics in real world contexts. TBC is drafting and iterating technical guidance materials, working directly with users to test application in practice, and providing ongoing support to address implementation challenges.

The resulting state of nature metrics set aims to provide a scalable and transparent approach to measuring the state of nature and is designed to be embedded within existing frameworks such as SBTN, TNFD and GRI by offering guidance on metric selection and application.