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Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

Nature-Positive Hub

The case for nature positive action

Nature underpins the functioning of society and the economy, but our ecosystems and the life they support are in crisis. The crisis is urgent and the rate of species decline is getting worse. Human action is the cause of this crisis. It is also the only solution. We need to scale up and accelerate transformative action. We have to tackle climate and nature together – and do this with the engagement and for the benefit of people and communities.

Nature positive action from business, government and financial institutions is needed to create a new operating model based on regeneration, resilience and circularity not extraction, destruction and pollution. Read our position on nature.

 

CISL Insights


We offer practical and strategic guidance, grounded in practitioner insights from exceptional people from business, policy and academia, to help leaders and organisations prepare for a nature positive future. 

 

We created the first industry specific primer to navigate the
new target-setting guidance from the Science Based Targets Network.

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Our Nature-related Finance Risks handbook and use cases explain key concepts linked to nature loss and financial risk and provide guidance for risk identification.

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Our diagnostic tool & sector briefings help companies understand & implement nature-based solutions projects and accelerate their adoption.

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CLG Europe signed a public letter to the European Parliament urging them to support the EU Nature Restoration Law.

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Five ways we work with you on nature


 

Our Rewiring the Economy framework offers tasks to guide
the changes necessary in the economy to deliver the SDGs & support natures.

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Our nature-based solutions sector case studies outline the challenges and actions needed to implement nature-based solutions projects.

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Collaborations we convened enabled stakeholders to rethink existing business models to eliminate plastic packaging waste.

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Our regenerative nature project models  offer blueprint that support improved biodiversity and water quality.

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We work with companies to help them take practical measures
to enhance the natural environment.

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We are partners in the following initiatives/coalitions


  • Business For Nature  is a global coalition that brings together business and conservation organisations and forward thinking companies.
  • We Mean Business Coalition is a global nonprofit coalition working with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change.  
  • Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures develops and deliver a risk management and disclosure framework for organisations to report and act on evolving nature-related risks.
  • African Natural Capital Alliance is a collaborative forum for mobilising the financial community’s response to the risk of nature loss in Africa.
  • Cambridge Conservation Initiative   is a unique collaboration between the University of Cambridge and nine leading internationally focused biodiversity conservation organisations based in and around Cambridge, UK.

 

Resources and reports


Unleashing the sustainable business

2 October 2023

2 October 2023 – This working paper explores the meaning and influence of organisational culture and proposes some key principles and associated behaviours that may underpin a purpose-driven organisational culture that delivers a sustainable future.

Climate and Nature: A Route to Mutual Acceleration

27 September 2023

28 September 2023 - A new briefing from CISL sets out the rationale for joint action between climate and nature. It offers six critical actions for business, government and financial institutions to transform our societies and economies towards a nature positive future.

Fashioning a nature-positive future: A biodiversity roadmap exploring the Transforming the Fashion Sector with Nature outputs for businesses in the fashion, textile and apparel sector

8 September 2023

11th Sept 2023 – Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) in partnership with The Fashion Pact and Conservation International , release a resource roadmap to further the development and implementation of biodiversity strategies across the fashion, textile and apparel sector, framing key outputs from the Transforming the Fashion Sector with Nature project.

Primer on the financial materiality of Nature-based Solutions (NbS)

3 August 2023

8 August 2023 – Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL)’s ClimateWise showcases a new primer on the financial materiality of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

Raising the ambition for nature: A fashion, apparel, and textile sector primer on the first Science-Based Targets for Nature

19 June 2023

28 June 2023 - The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL),The Fashion Pact and Conservation International have created the first industry specific primer to navigate the new target-setting guidance from the Science Based Targets Network.

Roadmap: Identification and integration of nature-related risks and impacts in underwriting and insurance brokerage

4 April 2023

12 April 2023 – New roadmap from CISL’s ClimateWise charts a path for the insurance sector towards nature-positive underwriting and explores the industry’s role in supporting the transition of its clients towards a sustainable economy. 

Integrating climate and nature: The rationale for financial institutions

26 September 2022

27 September 2022 – Building on the nature-related financial risks collaboration between the Banking Environment Initiative (BEI) and Investment Leaders Group (ILG), CISL has published a new report detailing the importance of an integrated approach to addressing environmental challenges, encompassing climate and other nature-related issues.

Why nature matters: Nature-related risks and opportunities for insurance underwriting

30 August 2022

5 September 2022 – The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL) ClimateWise has published a new report on Nature Insurance.

Decision Making in a Nature-Positive World: Nature-based Solutions for sectors

4 July 2022

7 July 2022 – CISL has published four sector-specific business briefings that outline the challenges and actions needed to implement nature-based solutions projects. The sectors include: Water, Finance, Food and Beverage, and Built Environment and Linear Infrastructure.

Modelling nature-positive agriculture and land management: Case studies

13 June 2022

13 June 2022 – Two new regenerative nature project models from CISL, the East of England Landscape Enterprise Network , and Poole Harbour Nutrient Management Scheme offer blueprints for land management that supports improved biodiversity and water quality through more sustainable agriculture.

CISL content hubs

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Nature-based solutions hub

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CISL responds to The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review

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CISL joins leading science and industry bodies to partner with TNFD

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CLG Europe Nature Hub

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COP15 Hub

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CISL Sustainable Food online course

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