Background

Nature Is Asia's Greatest Asset. It's Time Business Treated It That Way

Three-quarters of economic activity in Asia and the Pacific depends on nature. Yet, nature loss in the region is gaining pace, even as governments commit to reversing the trend under the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Action to halt nature loss is stalled by a lack of economic and financial incentives, policy incoherence, transparency shortcomings, and data gaps. Efforts to address these bottlenecks are fragmented by inconsistent dialogue and sharing of best practice. Complicating matters on the ground, ecosystems and the services they provide – clean water, pollinators, flood control – are often transboundary in scope, implicating geopolitical considerations.

UNDP believes that to address nature loss, a regional approach is needed that aligns corporate biodiversity performance with policy commitments. A regional approach to the emerging area of Business and Biodiversity (BXB) is essential  to ensure that Asia and the Pacific can move together toward globally agreed goals.  

Be part of Asia and the Pacific's nature-positive future.

Reducing the drivers of nature loss will take a coordinated effort. Across the region, work on policy, finance, data, and natural capital accounting is often carried out separately, by different institutions, in different countries and on different timelines. Tying this work closer together is part of what UNDP’s Business and Biodiversity Initiative sets out to do: to help coordinate, collaborate and catalyse five areas of work under the BXB heading.

Five Areas of Work 

1.  Policy coherence: Governments across the region are turning their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) into concrete actions. Meeting these commitments will require business and finance actors to play an active part. Eliminating policy incoherence is also needed to send clear signals. BXB will bring disparate voices together on policy platforms to bring opportunities and solutions forward.

2. Nature-related financial disclosures: UNDP Asia and the Pacific has taken a leading role in adopting the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). BXB supports companies and their partners in building the capacity to assess and report their impacts and dependencies on nature.

3. Digital technology and data: Reliable, location-specific data helps companies and investors understand how their capital and operations relate to the ecosystems around them. Through demonstration platforms and capacity building, BXB supports the tools and systems that make data more available and easier to use, and more effective for policy makers and securities regulators.

4. Natural capital accounting: Governments and businesses are beginning to measure the value of ecosystems in ways that can inform development policy, capital expenditures and investment decisions. BXB helps build the demand and the capacity to put this data to use, through technical support and dialogue.

5. Nature finance: Financing for nature-positive activity in the region remains limited relative to need. BXB supports the development of bankable projects and financing structures, including a Nature Pledge recognition scheme for businesses and investors ready to commit to nature-positive practice.

Why Now? 

Governments across Asia and the Pacific are now turning their commitments under the GBF into action. This is also a period when the incentives shaping business decisions are being defined. The opportunity for government, business, finance and civil society actors to work in the same direction has never been greater.

BXB is UNDP's contribution to that effort. It is a regional platform that brings together multiple stakeholder groups to work collaboratively on the five areas above. It does this through regional dialogue, technical assistance, capacity building, and shared knowledge products. Rather than starting from scratch, BXB builds on UNDP's existing work across ecosystems, policy development, and finance, aiming to connect these efforts more closely and support the transition toward nature-positive business across the region.

Contact:

Focal point: Sean.lees@undp.org 

Nature Pledge Coordinator, Asia and the Pacific