Getting buy-in for your NbS project
24 August 2022 - CISL’s Dr Gemma Cranston, Director, Business & Nature, Centre for Business Transformation and Adrian Greet, Senior Advisor, Business & Nature, Centre for Business Transformation, explain how Decision-making in a nature positive world can help get the buy-in for your nature-based solutions (NbS) project.
GC – With a growing number of businesses committing to become nature-positive and looking for approaches to deliver this, where do you recommend business should be focusing their attention?
AG – The landscape of change and current commitments in businesses is a very busy mix of complex and often competing priorities from market share to climate, water, social priorities, growth, profit, reputation, nature and more. In every sector and in every function, there will be different understanding, different expectations and resources that are already committed to current targets. Nature is seen as the “new kid on the block”, for many, and there is concern that it becomes just another ask to an already long list of asks and will be a major challenge to deliver anything meaningful. However, in reality it isn’t really a new need or a new area for action and there is much that many organisations already do. Instead it’s a topic that is growing in momentum and now has expectations and required outcomes. As a result, it means more internal targets and requires strategies and progress reporting, and all of this in addition to what is already being worked on. There is a real need to understand what it is, what it is to “me” and what we will commit to do about it.
GC – Are NbS the solution to delivering net zero and nature positive commitments?
AG – Nature-based solutions are a new focus area but are part of a holistic change we must achieve together. Getting buy-in to this needs to build from the work already being progressed and is not a blanket replacement. There will be gaps, and these will need to addressed. The urgency of need cannot be overstated and CISL have offered a solution to catalyse the change and help achieve the scale of outcome needed.
GC – What is it that you think is needed to support business in transitioning to deliver their nature-positive goals?
AG – I have always been taken by the quote from the British statistician George Box that “All models are wrong but some are useful” and throughout my career I have always sought solutions that are practical and that can achieve real change. This is what impresses me most about Decision-making in a nature positive world. It is an approach that supports change across all areas, as well as one that also supports the holistic challenges in engaging across businesses and sectors on Nature Positive outcomes.
Tom Divney, the author of tool, identified in an earlier blog on this topic that “Nature-based solutions (NbS) can be an effective tool for companies to achieve net zero carbon and other environmental goals, build supply chain resilience, and future-proof against strategic risks. As an emerging area, working with NbS projects requires a strategic-risk appetite for dealing with uncertainty.”
The challenge is how to align and how best to prioritise resources and commitments, to achieve the changes needed. The need is to move from “can” to “will” and “does.” I am unaware of any business who successfully achieves this as simply a “top-down edict”, such holistic change needs careful management.
The tool offers a set of conversations and levels of data needed to support alignment and to confirm the fit to current activities and actions and any gaps that might need to be addressed. With increasing granularity moving from concept to action, this tool helps validate the views of different stakeholders, clarifying areas where needed with one version of the truth and confirming the business case and overall company commitment.
GC –What are other users saying about the tool?
AG – Don’t just take my word for it! There are other organisations that work closely with business who have been implementing the tool.
Peter Beare, Manager of Natural Climate Solutions, WBCSDsaid:
“The CISL NbS guidance is a useful tool for companies; its focus on the process of NbS investment complements the technical material on the solutions themselves that is already available from other organisations. By showing readers what various companies have experienced, it highlights internal challenges and opportunities worth bearing in mind for all who are considering investing in NbS.”
There is growing recognition that internal blockers exist when looking to develop approaches to delivering on nature-positive objectives.
Laura Donnelly, Director of Nature, BSR said:
“As companies increasingly look to engage in nature-based solutions to address their impacts and dependencies on nature, frameworks such as CISL’s diagnostic tool are critical resources to drive progress through engaging key internal and external stakeholders. Understanding and employing the levers for change, both within an organization and with the broader value chain, will help ensure companies effectively and robustly integrate a nature-positive lens into business activities, helping to mitigate risk and contribute to a nature-positive landscape.”
GC – How do you see the interconnections between climate, nature and people playing out?
AG – With the growing need to take action around the climate and nature crises, the alignment of climate, nature and people is beginning to be surfaced within business, or at least questions are starting to be asked. Much is already being actioned within value chains, led by climate and people priorities, with direct benefits to nature and aligned with current or planned commitments for nature. Often it is not articulated as such, and the relevant metrics or case studies not referenced. By managing this directly across the flow to action, there is more a celebration of work already underway than a new set of separate targets that need to be achieved, and often with no obvious additional resources. There will be gaps and new challenges but working together with each stakeholder and function will ensure alignment and creative solutions to address the gaps identified as well as recognition on where new nature-based solutions will support progress on other priorities.
Carolyn Ching,Senior Manager of Food and Forests, CERES recognises the critical interplay between nature and climate change saying: “Nature plays a critical role in our efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. When companies fail to address emissions from food and agriculture production, it leaves them, our economy, and our planet exposed to environmental risks. This diagnostic tool helps companies identify and overcome internal challenges to implementing nature-based projects in their value chain, allowing companies to shift towards a resilient, low emissions supply chain.”