In collaboration with the Global Commons Alliance’s Accountability Accelerator, AccountAbility, Climate Governance Initiative and supported by the Climate Champions team, this board pocket guide provides a curated selection of global frameworks, methodologies, and standards essential for embedding nature and climate considerations into business operations, allowing boards to make informed decisions, manage risks, and seize opportunities for sustainability-driven growth.
Key takeaways
Understanding Your Role in Nature and Climate Action
Corporate Leadership: As board members, you play a critical role in driving corporate accountability by integrating nature and climate action into your organization’s core strategies and governance practices.
Beyond Compliance: Your leadership must extend beyond mere compliance with regulations. This involves setting ambitious science-based targets and investing in sustainable practices that promote nature-positive and climate-resilient business models.
Navigating the Resource Landscape
The Resource Navigator: This tool offers board members a curated selection of global frameworks, methodologies, and standards essential for embedding nature and climate considerations into business operations. It enables you to make informed decisions, manage risks, and seize opportunities for sustainability-driven growth.
Key Standards: The guide simplifies information on seemingly complex initiatives like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and Science-Based Targets Network (SBTN), helping you align your reporting and disclosure practices with international expectations.
Strategic Oversight for Nature and Climate
Risk Management and Opportunity Identification: Board oversight should focus on identifying and mitigating both financial and non-financial risks related to nature and climate. Additionally, the report highlights how nature-positive strategies can open new business opportunities, from enhancing brand reputation to attracting investment.
Double Materiality: Assess and monitor nature- and climate-related risks not just from a financial perspective, but also in terms of broader environmental and social impacts, ensuring alignment with global biodiversity and climate goals.
Empowering Long-term Resilience and Value Creation
Value creation: Nature-positive policies and solutions would create an estimated $10 trillion in new annual business value, 395 million jobs and meet a third of the mitigation needed to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement.
Resource Allocation: Direct resources towards nature-positive initiatives and climate transition plans, as these will not only enhance corporate resilience but also secure long-term business value in an evolving regulatory and market landscape.
Collaboration: Engage with external stakeholders—such as NGOs, local communities, and regulators—to ensure your company contributes to collective efforts in addressing climate change and halting biodiversity loss.
Integrating Nature into Net Zero Commitments
Nature-Positive for Climate Action: The guide emphasizes that businesses cannot achieve net-zero without embedding nature-positive practices. Board members are encouraged to lead by example, ensuring that nature-based solutions and deforestation policies are included in their companies' climate transition plans.
Read more and access the full pocket guide here: https://hub.climate-governance.org/article/board-pocket-guide-nature-climate-action
