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We need to protect nature: not only for its intrinsic value, but for the tangible benefits it provides.

Do we value nature enough? Sadly, all the signs point to us failing to do so.

Nature is declining globally at an unprecedented rate and the numbers are alarming. Since 1970, there has been a decline of Land use change has led to habitat degradation on a large scale: ’s surface has been altered by human activity, and

The link that exists between humans and the natural world around us is one that has been tested to breaking point in recent years. When research repeatedly shows that time spent in nature has clear benefits for human health and wellbeing, we should all place more value on it. There is also a clear connection between protecting nature and business success.

The economic case

Why should businesses care about this? Aside from the fact that we are experiencing a climate crisis that cannot be solved without also protecting and restoring natural resources, if nature continues to decline at current rates, many businesses would be unable to trade. There is an interdependent relationship with businesses and nature.

Commercial activity impacts on nature, but for commercial activity to be successful, thriving biodiversity and natural systems need to be in place. This is because of ecosystem services: the contributions that ecosystems provide to human wellbeing and systems. Specifically, provisioning services supply the water, food, energy and raw materials needed for humans to live, and for businesses to operate. Healthy ecosystems ensure the sustainable supply of these essential goods.

When they are interrupted, so is business success. Conserving nature is therefore vital to maintain jobs, support a growing global economy and enable society to thrive.

The World Bank estimate that the collapse of some ecosystem services could result in a decline of global GDP of $2.7 trillion annually by 2030.

Additionally, nature has a value on which we can place an economic figure. In 2020 the in economic value was at risk due to business reliance on nature. In 2023, that figure was reported as being even higher at . More than half the world’s total GDP is moderately or highly .

The opportunities

We still have time to act, and to grasp the opportunities that nature can provide. Supply chains can be stabilised when the provisioning services they draw from are protected. Business resilience is more likely when nature is given its proper value.

Employing strategies that put nature at the heart of decision making can also result in opportunities for businesses. These include: the generation of new jobs (The World Economic Forum estimates that nature-positive business models could create nearly ), access to new financing models and the discovery of new market opportunities. Brand value and reputation can be enhanced, too.

The World Economic Forum estimates that nature-positive business models could create nearly 400 million new jobs by 2030.

From an urban planning perspective, access to green spaces – parks, gardens, greenways, urban forests, rivers – reduces stress on existing grey infrastructure, improves overall resilience, and makes places and spaces more attractive to potential residents and occupiers. Looking to the climate crisis, urban wetlands can act as carbon sinks and sequester carbon, as well as increasing biodiversity. Including nature-based solutions (such as biophilic design, green landscaping and rain-water harvesting) can improve tenant satisfaction and retention as well as increased rental yields.

Value for human wellbeing

Research shows the benefits that time in nature and green spaces brings to us all. Whether that is the physical health benefits that access to nature can bring, or the mental health and wellbeing upsides (proximity to nature and accessing green spaces ) human access to our world’s natural systems has an inherent value. We are not separate from nature; it is a partnership. Indeed, human health and natural environmental success are interlinked.

But the reality is that the effective conservation of the natural world requires fundamental change and action across economic systems. When we highlight the economic case, it means that those who have power and influence are more likely to act in ways that protect nature and mobilise nature-based solutions.

The forecasting from the WEF of becoming unlocked when businesses embrace a nature-positive approach, tells business leaders of the value that it can bring. The tide is turning, and considering natural assets as capital assets means the necessary action to protect them will be taken. Indeed, it is already beginning to. Tomorrow’s consumers, stakeholders and decision makers expect it.