Nature’s health is in decline, leaving our planet facing a twin climate and nature crisis.
The contribution of business and finance to nature loss and their role in addressing it are increasingly coming into focus.
In this new Citi GPS report, we assess:
- How industries impact and depend on nature across all realms--land, freshwater, oceans, atmosphere--and their revenue exposure.
- Potential hotspots of conflict between industrial activities and ecologically sensitive areas.
We then examine the evolving landscape of nature regulation and initiatives, nature data and finance solutions, and we hear from experts from within and outside Citi.
The report also looks at the shift towards more integrated environmental management and best practice for corporates.
Our proprietary analyses found that:
- $15 trillion of business revenue (spanning 7 industries) has potentially high direct negative impacts across all nature realms.
- High impact sectors have at least 15% of industrial facilities in areas with high or extremely high water-stress
A holistic analysis of nature impacts, dependencies and location assessment at the sector level allows us to demonstrate and provide insights into why corporates and investors should act, and how they can start to assess nature impacts and dependencies.
We also find that more companies are setting nature-related goals and targets across a variety of issues, as awareness has grown, and corporates are upskilling and employing more climate and biodiversity personnel. Nature is the next sustainability frontier for business and finance.
However, progress still trails that made on climate. Nature loss is more complex than climate change. It is location-specific and there’s no one common metric to measure progress.
Businesses will be expected to move on several nature-related issues, including deforestation, freshwater use, pollution, ocean health decline and biodiversity loss. However, these are often considered and addressed in siloes, or consigned to the back burner as climate takes full focus.
Nature is vital for climate mitigation and adaptation, and climate action is essential for addressing nature loss.
A focus on the energy transition will only solve part of the environmental challenge we face. Effective transition to net zero requires a broader view beyond carbon to encompass and embrace nature.
