Our Favourite Biodiversity Reports from 2024

1. Executive Summary of the TNFD Recommendations

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Read the report by TNFD

This report outlines the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure’s (TNFD) global, market-led framework for integrating nature-related considerations into business and financial decision-making. It emphasises the urgent need for companies and financial institutions to understand their dependencies on and impacts on nature to manage risks and seize opportunities.

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Key Takeaways

• Provides a structured framework for identifying, assessing, and disclosing nature-related risks, dependencies, impacts, and opportunities.
• Aligns with global policy goals, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and mirrors the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) structure.
• Supports businesses in incorporating nature alongside climate in strategic decision-making and reporting.
• Includes practical tools like the LEAP approach, scenario analysis, and sector-specific guidance.
• Recommends flexible metrics for cross-sector and sector-specific reporting to facilitate comparability and decision-making.

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Why it Matters

The TNFD recommendations position nature as a core component of enterprise risk management, transforming it from a CSR initiative to a strategic business imperative. For companies measuring biodiversity impact, this report lays the foundation for aligning with emerging regulatory expectations and building stakeholder trust.

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2. The “Nature-Positive” Journey for Business: A Conceptual Research Agenda to Guide Contributions to Societal Biodiversity Goals

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Read the study by One Earth (Cell Press)

This report emphasises the critical role businesses play in halting biodiversity loss and outlines a conceptual framework for achieving a nature-positive future. It highlights the need for transformative changes in business operations, informed by research and collaboration, to align with societal biodiversity goals such as those set in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

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Key Takeaways

• Speaks to nature-positive as a global goal to reverse biodiversity loss, emphasising systemic transformation over isolated actions.
• Identifies four core research areas: systemic drivers of change, strategic business options, implementation by businesses, and monitoring outcomes.
• Proposes the mitigation hierarchy (avoid, reduce, restore, offset) as a key strategy for businesses to minimise biodiversity impacts.
• Stresses the importance of collaborative research between businesses, governments, and academia to fill knowledge gaps and drive effective action.
• Highlights that sector-specific approaches are crucial, as strategies must align with varying business models, geographies, and impacts on biodiversity.

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Why it Matters

This report provides a emphasises the need for businesses to integrate biodiversity into their core strategies, aligning with global goals like GBF Target 15 to reduce negative impacts and increase positive contributions. By managing biodiversity-related risks and unlocking opportunities for innovation, businesses can ensure resilience, long-term success, and transformative change.

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3. Do Investors Care about Biodiversity?

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Read the analysis by Harvard Law School

This report examines the relationship between corporate biodiversity footprints (CBF) and financial performance, revealing how biodiversity is beginning to factor into investor decision-making. Using a science-based CBF metric, it highlights how biodiversity-related risks and regulations are increasingly influencing stock returns, particularly following key biodiversity-focused events like the Kunming Declaration and the TNFD launch.

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Key Takeaways

• Introduces the Corporate Biodiversity Footprint (CBF) as a science-based measure of biodiversity impact across a firm’s operations and value chain.
• Finds no consistent relationship between CBF and returns from 2019 to 2022 but identifies a biodiversity footprint premium after major policy events.
• Demonstrates that investor awareness of biodiversity risks and potential regulations increased after the Kunming Declaration and TNFD launch.
• Highlights sectoral differences, with industries like retail, paper, and food exhibiting higher CBF due to intensive land use and pollution.

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Why it Matters

The report underscores the growing importance of biodiversity as a financial consideration, signalling that investors are beginning to price biodiversity risks into stock valuations. For businesses in industries with significant biodiversity impacts, proactive strategies to reduce CBF can mitigate risks and enhance resilience to regulatory changes.

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4. Building Consensus on State of Nature Metrics to Drive Nature Positive Outcomes

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Explore the metrics from the Nature Positive Initiative

This consultation brief by the Nature Positive Initiative outlines a process to establish consensus on a set of metrics for measuring changes in the state of nature. These metrics aim to track and demonstrate nature-positive outcomes, addressing the complexity and inconsistency currently hindering effective biodiversity measurement.

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Key Takeaways

• Proposes a framework for identifying universal and case-specific metrics to monitor the state of nature, emphasising ecosystem extent, condition, and function.
• Introduces a tiered approach (Entry, Standard, and Advanced levels) to accommodate users with varying capacities and data availability, fostering scalable biodiversity monitoring.
• Focuses on biotic (living) elements, such as species and ecosystems, while acknowledging interdependencies with abiotic components (e.g., water and soil).
• Calls for integration of these metrics into existing global frameworks (e.g., GBF, TNFD) to standardise reporting and accountability for nature-positive actions.
• Highlights the importance of stakeholder collaboration, including Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), in refining metrics and incorporating traditional knowledge.

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Why it Matters

Achieving consensus on state-of-nature metrics is critical for businesses and governments to credibly measure their contributions to biodiversity recovery. This framework offers a structured, scalable, and inclusive approach to ensure actions are aligned with global biodiversity goals, such as halting and reversing nature loss by 2030.

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5. Integrating Nature Tech: A Guide for Businesses

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Read the guide by the Nature Tech Collective

This report explores the transformative role of nature tech in advancing corporate sustainability. It provides a framework for businesses to harness nature tech tools to measure environmental impacts, set nature-positive targets, and align with global biodiversity objectives. The document underscores the importance of regulatory compliance and showcases how various industries are using nature tech to support biodiversity and sustainable practices.

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Key Takeaways

• Explores regulatory drivers like the TNFD ACT-D framework, UK Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that are accelerating nature tech adoption.
• Showcases innovations in nature tech, including AI, satellite data, and blockchain, that address challenges such as nature monitoring, transparency, and operational efficiency.
• Demonstrates how financial firms are leveraging nature tech for investments in reforestation, wetland restoration, and regenerative agriculture, reflecting its growing significance in the finance sector.
• Highlights upcoming initiatives, including a Nature Tech Taxonomy to guide businesses in selecting solutions and AI-powered tools to enhance corporate adoption of nature tech.
• Features case studies showcasing nature tech applications in sectors like energy, finance, and aviation.

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Why it Matters

Nature tech is revolutionising how businesses navigate sustainability, offering tools to measure and mitigate biodiversity impacts while complying with emerging regulations. By fostering collaboration and innovation, this guide empowers businesses to embrace nature-positive practices.

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6. Nature Equity Consultation Paper

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View the paper by the LandBanking Group

This paper introduces "Nature Equity," a groundbreaking concept linking biophysical nature preservation and enhancement to financial payments. It establishes Nature Equity as a new asset class tied to Natural Capital Accounts (NCAs), enabling outcome-based rewards for land stewards and verifiable proof of nature stewardship for investors.

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Key Takeaways

• Defines Nature Equity as a financial mechanism for incentivising natural capital preservation and restoration.
• Introduces NCAs, which record biodiversity, carbon, soil, and water metrics for specific land plots as collateral for Nature Equity contracts.
• Proposes Nature Equity as a solution to the dual crises of the "Nature Gap" and the "Equity Gap," driven by overuse of natural capital and widening societal inequities.
• Highlights the potential for Nature Equity to attract private investments, offering balance sheet-grade assets for businesses and tangible benefits for land stewards.
• Advocates for scalable, transparent Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems to support Nature Equity markets.

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Why it Matters

Nature Equity represents a transformative approach to integrating natural capital into global financial systems. By aligning financial rewards with ecosystem health, it provides a sustainable pathway for businesses to invest in biodiversity while mitigating risks to supply chains and ensuring regulatory compliance.

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7. Prescribing Nature Can Improve Happiness and Reduce Anxiety

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Read the research by Science Daily

This report highlights the benefits of Green Social Prescribing, a practice that connects individuals with mental health needs to nature-based activities like gardening, conservation, care farming, and outdoor therapies. The study, funded by a £5.77m cross-government initiative, demonstrated significant improvements in participants' mental health, happiness, and overall wellbeing.

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Key Takeaways

• Green Social Prescribing improves happiness and reduces anxiety for participants.
• Offers a variety of nature-based activities, such as conservation, gardening, and outdoor therapies.
• The program reached diverse groups, including children, ethnic minorities (21%), and socio-economically deprived individuals (57%).
• Found to be cost-effective, averaging £507 per participant, compared to other interventions like CBT.
• Proven to enhance wellbeing metrics, including life satisfaction and a sense of purpose.

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Why it Matters

This report provides compelling evidence that Green Social Prescribing can be an effective, inclusive, and cost-efficient way to support mental health. For businesses, particularly in property development and energy, integrating green spaces into projects can align with community wellbeing initiatives and promote biodiversity. By creating environments that support Green Social Prescribing, companies can contribute to both ecological and social resilience, reflecting Xylo Systems' ethos of leveraging nature and technology for holistic positive impact.

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8. WWF Living Planet Report 2024

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Explore the report by WWF

The WWF Living Planet Report 2024 reveals a staggering 73% decline in global wildlife populations over the last 50 years, highlighting a critical loss of biodiversity. The Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks trends across nearly 35,000 populations of 5,495 species, underscores the urgent need to address the escalating threats to our planet's ecosystems and the survival of humanity.

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Key Takeaways

• Biodiversity has declined catastrophically, with a 73% reduction in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2020.
• Habitat degradation and unsustainable food systems are the leading drivers of biodiversity loss globally.
• The Arctic is facing accelerated biodiversity loss due to climate change, warming four times faster than the global average.
• Critical tipping points, such as permafrost thaw and ice sheet melting, risk irreversible damage to ecosystems and human livelihoods.
• The loss of Arctic summer sea ice by 2050 could devastate polar bear populations and disrupt marine ecosystems.

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Why it Matters

This report highlights the essential role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem services, such as clean air, water, pollination, and climate regulation, which are critical to human survival. The findings underscore the urgency for businesses and governments to adopt nature-positive strategies to mitigate habitat destruction and climate change.

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9. NSW Biodiversity Outlook Report 2024

Read the report by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

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The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the status and trends of biodiversity in New South Wales, Australia. Through rigorous scientific analysis, it highlights the pressures facing biodiversity, such as climate change, habitat loss, and invasive species, and offers insights into conservation strategies to protect ecosystems and species.

Key Takeaways

• Nearly 1,000 species in NSW are at risk of extinction without intervention, with habitat loss and climate change identified as major drivers of biodiversity decline.
• The Biodiversity Indicator Program tracks biodiversity trends using scientifically rigorous and peer-reviewed indicators, providing critical data for informed decision-making.
• Between 2007 and 2020, ecosystem diversity decreased from 77% to 74%, with major impacts from the 2019–2020 bushfires.
• Conservation programs, including the Saving Our Species program and private land conservation initiatives, are crucial to mitigating biodiversity loss.
• New indicators and case studies highlight the importance of reintroducing locally extinct species, improving habitat connectivity, and adapting landscapes to climate change.

Why it Matters

This report underscores the urgent need to protect biodiversity, which is critical for ecosystem health, climate regulation, and community wellbeing. By leveraging tools like the Biodiversity Indicator Program and investing in conservation efforts, businesses and governments can effectively address biodiversity challenges.

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Going into 2025, we anticipate a surge in detailed studies and reports underscoring the urgent need for global biodiversity improvements. These insights will play a critical role in shaping new regulations and guiding businesses on actionable steps to protect and restore biodiversity.