The Future of Nature and Business, the second of three reports in the World Economic Forum’s New Nature Economy series, provides the practical insights needed to take leadership in shifting towards a much needed nature-positive economy.

As the world prepares to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting crisis, we are presented with an unprecedented clarion call, and opportunity, to change the way we eat, live, grow, build and power our lives to achieve a carbon-neutral, ‘nature-positive’ economy and halt biodiversity loss by 2030. Business as usual is no longer an option.

The report highlights the need for a fundamental transformation across three socio-economic systems, which represent over a third of the global economy and provide up to two-thirds of all jobs. These systems are: food, land and ocean use; infrastructure and the built environment; and extractives and energy. Together they drive the threats which endanger almost 80% of the total threatened and near-threatened species. These systems, therefore, have a significant opportunity and responsibility to reverse nature loss. But they also have tremendous upside benefits to gain by embracing this transformation now.

The Future of Nature and Business sets out how 15 transitions across the three systems can form the blueprint of action for nature-positive transitions which could generate up to US$10.1 trillion in annual business value and create 395 million jobs by 2030.

The report has been prepared in collaboration with AlphaBeta. Its findings inform the working priorities of the Champions for Nature, a community of leaders disrupting business-as-usual to lead the way to a nature-positive global economy, as well as a Policy Companion report which sets out how governments can ensure nature is integrated into economies as part of a Great Reset, in a way that delivers high-quality jobs and new sources of economic value, while preserving the natural capital needed for public health and societal resilience.

About the New Nature Economy Report (NNER) series
The series of New Nature Economy Reports (NNER) is being developed under the umbrella of the World Economic Forum’s work on nature, a platform for committed actors to join up ideas and efforts in the run-up
to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 – and in support of the related Business for
Nature agenda. The NNER series aims to make the business and economic case for action.
The series will span three reports that focus on the following priorities:
1. Make the case for why nature loss is a material risk to business and the economy, including:
a. The scale and urgency of the nature crisis
b. The potential consequences for society if the crisis remains unchecked
c. The need for business to mainstream nature risk in corporate enterprise risk management
2. Provide the insights needed to develop practical roadmaps that address the most important drivers of nature loss, and build a nature-positive future, including:
a. The most pressing business-related threats to nature, which require urgent individual and collective action from business and other economic actors
b. The key socio-economic transitions needed to tackle the nature crisis; and the potential financial upside from concerted business action
c. The enforceable, supporting and coherent enabling mechanisms that will be needed to catalyse change at scale
3. Scope the market and investment opportunities for nature-based solutions to environmental and humanitarian challenges:
a. Research solutions across the biodiversity, climate mitigation, climate resilience and ocean agendas
b. Assess their economic and nature-building potential
c. Identify areas and approaches most relevant for private-sector finance