We need to protect the nature left on the planet and restore what we can of what we have destroyed or degraded, for the sake of all life on Earth and to secure a safe and just future. To achieve this, we need to move key economic sectors from nature-negative to nature-positive practices. And critically, we need to redirect financial flows to support this Great Transition. This is where responsible investment, public and private, comes into play.
There’s never been a better time for humans. In the last couple of centuries, and particularly the last 70 years after the end of the Second World War, we have lived through unprecedented economic development and spectacular scientific and technological advances, leading to a formidable improvement in quality of life for many people in the world. Child mortality has dropped from 40% in 1900 to 5% today. Life expectancy has risen from 40 to 70 years. Extreme poverty has fallen from 75% to 10%.
This is what we can call the Great Rise of Humanity and, even though these global statistics hide a deep and unacceptable level of inequality across regions, progress in human development terms is undeniable in many parts of the world.
But the Great Rise of Humanity was hiding a dark secret, something that - inadvertently, or conveniently - has been ignored until now: the Great Decline of Nature.
The combined Great Acceleration of demographic growth, technological innovation and consumption boosted economic growth but also led to an exponential increase of our impacts on nature.
As a result, we cut and burned half the trees, bleached half the coral reefs, drained 80% of wetlands. In just 50 years we have seen a two thirds decline in wildlife populations. We have altered more than two thirds of the planet’s ecosystems and destabilised the global climate in just half a century, a blink of an eye compared to the history of our species, let alone of the planet.
We depend on nature for everything that supports our lives, but we have come to take nature for granted, considering her resources and services to be infinite and infinitely resilient, free inputs into our economy without accounting for any of the losses of ‘natural capital’.
We are consuming natural resources beyond what the planet can regenerate and, worse, we are also destroying the ecosystems that can replenish these resources. Because of our actions, the Planet has become hotter, polluted and emptier of life.
This is the development paradox of our time. A paradox that cannot last for much longer as we rely on an economy that destroys its very foundations.
This is not green alarmism. The science has never been clearer. This is the Great Threat we are facing. But today we know. We are the most environmentally aware generation of all time – awareness of the causes, threats and consequences of climate change and nature loss has never been greater. These dual crises are increasingly perceived as risks for business and the economy, and development and security issues for humanity.
In this Great Awakening lies hope and the seed of change.
Nature Positive is not a slogan, it is a measurable goal, the goal of ‘halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030’ agreed in 2022 by almost 200 nations. In simple words nature positive means a future with more nature, not less.
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We need to protect the nature left on the planet and restore what we can of what we have destroyed or degraded. To achieve that we need to move key economic sectors from nature-negative to nature-positive practices. Finally, and most critically, we need to redirect financial flows to support this Great Transition. This is where responsible investment, public and private, comes into play.
The starting point for every company or financial institution is to identify and measure the state of nature within their remit, assessing their impacts on nature followed by developing a plan to avoid or reduce them. Measuring the state of nature means measuring the overall health of the natural world, allowing a company to assess the outcomes of their responses to the impacts. Unlike climate, where we have a clear way to measure progress against the net-zero emission goal, biodiversity is undoubtedly more complex to measure. But rather than making perfect the enemy of good, we must select a set of metrics that strike the right balance in being science based and credible but also accessible, applicable, comparable and affordable. This is key to incentivise businesses to start their nature-positive journey in identifying and addressing their impacts on nature and measuring progress toward nature-positive outcomes and contributions. Measuring all elements of nature is neither practical nor possible. Therefore, we should identify credible proxies of nature’s overall health to gauge whether it is in recovery or not and inform our actions.
Nature is complex, and no single indicator and metric can fully describe her state of health. But with more than 600 available nature metrics (and counting), it is truly challenging for companies and financial institutions, as well as national and sub-national governments, to determine what to measure and how to do it in a relevant, credible and consistent way. This leads to confusion, lack of confidence and, ultimately, inaction. Agreeing on one set of state of nature metrics is important to effectively know whether our actions are truly contributing to nature’s recovery. These metrics are a central component of any nature strategy and transition plan, complementing and informing the other critical metrics that measure pressures and responses.
That's why the Nature Positive Initiative has convened a consensus-building process to identify a common set of State of Nature Metrics. It will drive action and help the world credibly measure progress in addressing negative impacts and achieving net-positive biodiversity (nature-positive) outcomes.
We are living in extraordinary times. Times of paradoxes and great threats. But also times of great choices and opportunities. And we are entering times of consequences.
We are the ones who hold the pen and can write the next chapter in the history of humanity. The time to write it is now. The choice is clear.
I am looking forward to unpacking the topic of measuring nature for investors in my keynote, panel discussion, and workshop at the RIAA Conference Australia on 28 & 29 May.
<small> Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view or position of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). This article is intended as general information and should not be considered investment advice. It is recommended to seek appropriate professional advice before making any investment decisions.
About the contributors
About the speakers
Marco Lambertini
Convener
-
Nature Positive Initiative
Marco Lambertini is Convener of the Nature Positive Initiative. Previously Marco was WWF International Director General and CEO of BirdLife International.
Marco is a member of the China Council (CCICED), the UNILEVER Sustainability Advisory Council, the Board of Directors for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, co-chair of the Nature Action 100 Science Council, a founding member of the Nature Action Agenda and Friends of Ocean Action at the World Economic Forum, and former member of the UN Global Compact Board.
Marco is lead author of the upcoming book “Becoming Nature Positive: transitioning to a safe and just future” (2025, Earthscan Routledge, London).
We need to protect the nature left on the planet and restore what we can of what we have destroyed or degraded, for the sake of all life on Earth and to secure a safe and just future. To achieve this, we need to move key economic sectors from nature-negative to nature-positive practices. And critically, we need to redirect financial flows to support this Great Transition. This is where responsible investment, public and private, comes into play.
There’s never been a better time for humans. In the last couple of centuries, and particularly the last 70 years after the end of the Second World War, we have lived through unprecedented economic development and spectacular scientific and technological advances, leading to a formidable improvement in quality of life for many people in the world. Child mortality has dropped from 40% in 1900 to 5% today. Life expectancy has risen from 40 to 70 years. Extreme poverty has fallen from 75% to 10%.
This is what we can call the Great Rise of Humanity and, even though these global statistics hide a deep and unacceptable level of inequality across regions, progress in human development terms is undeniable in many parts of the world.
But the Great Rise of Humanity was hiding a dark secret, something that - inadvertently, or conveniently - has been ignored until now: the Great Decline of Nature.
The combined Great Acceleration of demographic growth, technological innovation and consumption boosted economic growth but also led to an exponential increase of our impacts on nature.
As a result, we cut and burned half the trees, bleached half the coral reefs, drained 80% of wetlands. In just 50 years we have seen a two thirds decline in wildlife populations. We have altered more than two thirds of the planet’s ecosystems and destabilised the global climate in just half a century, a blink of an eye compared to the history of our species, let alone of the planet.
We depend on nature for everything that supports our lives, but we have come to take nature for granted, considering her resources and services to be infinite and infinitely resilient, free inputs into our economy without accounting for any of the losses of ‘natural capital’.
We are consuming natural resources beyond what the planet can regenerate and, worse, we are also destroying the ecosystems that can replenish these resources. Because of our actions, the Planet has become hotter, polluted and emptier of life.
This is the development paradox of our time. A paradox that cannot last for much longer as we rely on an economy that destroys its very foundations.
This is not green alarmism. The science has never been clearer. This is the Great Threat we are facing. But today we know. We are the most environmentally aware generation of all time – awareness of the causes, threats and consequences of climate change and nature loss has never been greater. These dual crises are increasingly perceived as risks for business and the economy, and development and security issues for humanity.
In this Great Awakening lies hope and the seed of change.
Nature Positive is not a slogan, it is a measurable goal, the goal of ‘halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030’ agreed in 2022 by almost 200 nations. In simple words nature positive means a future with more nature, not less.
We need to protect the nature left on the planet and restore what we can of what we have destroyed or degraded. To achieve that we need to move key economic sectors from nature-negative to nature-positive practices. Finally, and most critically, we need to redirect financial flows to support this Great Transition. This is where responsible investment, public and private, comes into play.
The starting point for every company or financial institution is to identify and measure the state of nature within their remit, assessing their impacts on nature followed by developing a plan to avoid or reduce them. Measuring the state of nature means measuring the overall health of the natural world, allowing a company to assess the outcomes of their responses to the impacts. Unlike climate, where we have a clear way to measure progress against the net-zero emission goal, biodiversity is undoubtedly more complex to measure. But rather than making perfect the enemy of good, we must select a set of metrics that strike the right balance in being science based and credible but also accessible, applicable, comparable and affordable. This is key to incentivise businesses to start their nature-positive journey in identifying and addressing their impacts on nature and measuring progress toward nature-positive outcomes and contributions. Measuring all elements of nature is neither practical nor possible. Therefore, we should identify credible proxies of nature’s overall health to gauge whether it is in recovery or not and inform our actions.
Nature is complex, and no single indicator and metric can fully describe her state of health. But with more than 600 available nature metrics (and counting), it is truly challenging for companies and financial institutions, as well as national and sub-national governments, to determine what to measure and how to do it in a relevant, credible and consistent way. This leads to confusion, lack of confidence and, ultimately, inaction. Agreeing on one set of state of nature metrics is important to effectively know whether our actions are truly contributing to nature’s recovery. These metrics are a central component of any nature strategy and transition plan, complementing and informing the other critical metrics that measure pressures and responses.
That's why the Nature Positive Initiative has convened a consensus-building process to identify a common set of State of Nature Metrics. It will drive action and help the world credibly measure progress in addressing negative impacts and achieving net-positive biodiversity (nature-positive) outcomes.
We are living in extraordinary times. Times of paradoxes and great threats. But also times of great choices and opportunities. And we are entering times of consequences.
We are the ones who hold the pen and can write the next chapter in the history of humanity. The time to write it is now. The choice is clear.
I am looking forward to unpacking the topic of measuring nature for investors in my keynote, panel discussion, and workshop at the RIAA Conference Australia on 28 & 29 May.
<small> Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view or position of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). This article is intended as general information and should not be considered investment advice. It is recommended to seek appropriate professional advice before making any investment decisions.
