The 2030 Biodiversity Framework Targets are our chance to achieve real progress on biodiversity and secure a liveable planet. Our success will be based on data and putting the right mechanisms in place during COP16 to monitor implementation, drive progress and hold laggards to account.

At CDP, we track the targets. Only CDP surfaces the information needed for a whole-of-economy view of progress and to guide the right actions. Through data from more than 23,000 companies and 1,100 cities, states and regions, we unpack progress on Targets 15, 10 and 12 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Here, we provide insights into how corporates are progressing in assessing, disclosing and acting on their biodiversity-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities. Using a subset of CDP’s TNFD- and ESRS- aligned data, this analysis makes clear the need for greater private sector action and strong government leadership.

The GBF enshrines the critical role of disclosure in Target 15, which requires business to assess, disclose and reduce biodiversity-related risks, dependencies and impacts, and governments to take measures to encourage and enable them to do so.

Two years on, more businesses than ever are disclosing environmental information beyond climate.

However, this positive progress must rapidly increase if we are to achieve Target 15 and have any chance of driving action to reach other targets.

Here, we provide detailed insights into how corporates are progressing in assessing, disclosing and acting on their biodiversity-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities. Using a subset CDP’s TNFD- and ESRS- aligned data, this analysis makes clear the need for greater private sector action and strong government leadership.

Dependencies

Target 15 makes clear all businesses are dependent on biodiversity ‘in some way’, and that large companies especially need to regularly assess and disclose where these dependencies lie. While significant gaps in corporate awareness remain, progress is being made.

More than 99% of relevant companies assess their dependencies on water. Between 2022 and 2023, there was a 24% increase in companies assessing water dependencies.

However, companies are still at the beginning of their journey to assess dependencies on biodiversity. In 2023, only 7% of companies and financial institutions disclosed that they assess their dependencies on biodiversity, while just over one-third plan to do so in the next two years.

Of the companies and financial institutions that are doing so already, just a quarter are assessing the dependencies of their entire value chain.

Similarly, a minority of corporates assess the impacts of their value chain on biodiversity or plan to do so soon.

A failure to assess impacts and dependencies poses risks not only to the environment but to the global economy. Over half the world's GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services. Recent losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services already cost US$4-20 trillion per year - likely to increase exponentially.

An increasing majority of disclosers conclude that the direct or indirect use of freshwater is crucial to the success of their business. However, roughly 1/3 of companies operating in sectors with high water needs report that the direct or indirect use of freshwater is neutral or not important to the success of their business.

Much of the world’s land is now given over for economic uses, from growing crops to timber products. Companies which own and rely on large tracts of land need to accommodate nature. Just 92 companies control or manage a staggering:

That's roughly the size of Colombia. With greater control comes greater responsibility to protect and restore.

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Impacts

Alongside dependencies, we cannot achieve Target 15 without understanding business impacts, both positive and negative. For too long, water-related impacts have been significantly overlooked. Our analysis shows this continues to be the case, with potentially serious consequences.

The GBF is committed to the reduction of pollution risks and negative impact of pollution from all sources to levels not harmful to the planet by 2030. Corporate monitoring and action will be essential, but CDP data shows it is desperately lagging.

Less than half of disclosing companies with a high potential to cause significant or major freshwater pollution and degradation are monitoring their emissions to water, including nitrates, pesticides and phosphates.

Of those, more than three-quarters are monitoring the majority (76%+) of their water discharges. Just under half of disclosers that monitor their water discharges are also disclosing emissions figures.

A failure among high-impact sectors to act on water pollution and degradation is already leading to major economic losses. In just one year, contaminated water supplies led to $13.5 billion in stranded assets in the oil and gas, electric utilities, coal, and metals and mining industries.

In 2023, only 29% of companies disclosed their deforestation or conversion footprint. However, despite global deforestation rates remaining stubbornly high, among those that did disclose, more reported a decrease in deforestation since 2022.

Risks

Time and again, CDP data has shown how companies are facing a growing number of nature-related risks. These range from wildfires and pollution, to new legislation and changes in consumer demand.

An increasing number of companies are identifying water- and forest-related risks with the potential to have a substantive financial or strategic impact on their businesses.

Signaling a heightened awareness of increasing extreme weather events, there has been a notable increase in physical risks reported.

The existential threats to the economy are well known. The loss of healthy ecosystems could cause a $2.7 trillion annual decline in global GDP by 2030 - just five years’ time.

Yet just 1 in every 2 companies quantify the potential financial impacts, with only 57% of water- and 54% of forest-related risks covered by a potential financial impact value, likely leaving them with a highly restricted view of the problem.

There has been a slight increase in financial institutions that have identified water- and forest-related risks in their portfolios with the potential to have a substantive financial impact on their business, 12% and 16% of financial institutions have done so for forests and water security. Considering the high numbers of nature-related risks reported by companies, it can only be concluded that financial institutions continue to underestimate the risk exposure of their portfolios.

Opportunities

The world now recognizes the urgent need to halt nature loss, but often missing from the debate are the huge opportunities this will bring about. Companies which take the initiative stand to reap significant commercial benefits from valuing nature.

Environmental action makes business sense, enabling leading companies to compete efficiently in the global market, secure access to capital and prepare for compliance. More companies are identifying opportunities than risks, and it far less costly for businesses to manage their risks than bear the potential financial impact of these risks materializing.

The average financial impact for forest-related opportunities is increasing, as the benefits of acting continue to stack up.

Target 10 requires the enhancement of biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry. This is most relevant for subnational governments which typically manage these areas.

109 states & regions accounting for 547 million people - reported via CDP on this issue in 2023. These include some of the most biodiverse places in the world. Eight out of the nine states from the Brazilian Amazon disclosed in 2023 – an area covering five million square kilometers. In addition, 67% of Borneo in Southeast Asia disclosed, a critically important region for biodiversity and a habitat for many endangered species.

Only half of states & regions are taking ‘at least one action’ to improve the sustainability of the conservation, agriculture, fishing, forestry or water sectors. This represents a missed opportunity from subnational governments to use their power to protect nature.

Financing is a serious challenge for states & regions seeking to implement actions to enhance biodiversity and protect nature. A significant investment gap exists where governments are still seeking funding.

Private finance will be needed to ensure these projects can reach completion. At the moment, private investors are practically absent in catalyzing finance for sustainable public policies.

Target 10 cannot be achieved without states & regions setting strong Agriculture, Forest and Land Use targets (AFLOU). This is critical to halting nature loss and keeping global temperatures to 1.5C.

CDP data shows that only six states and regions have reported credible targets”. Credible is an important word to avoid any issues with other disclosers, meaning large swathes of land are not being used to protect nature, reduce emissions, and enhance biodiversity.

Target 10 cannot be achieved without states & regions setting strong Agriculture, Forest and Land Use targets (AFLOU). This is critical to halting nature loss and keeping global temperatures to 1.5C. However, CDP data shows only six states and regions have done so, meaning large swathes of land are not being used to protect nature, reduce emissions, and enhance biodiversity.

Target 12 aims to enhance green spaces and urban planning for human well-being and biodiversity. CDP data from global cities is especially rich in this area. In 2023, over 1,100 cities representing 11% of the world’s population told CDP what actions they are taking to protect nature and support biodiversity.

Cities from 97 different countries reported across every continent. These include some of the largest and most well-known places on Earth, from New York City to Hong Kong; from Paris to Rio de Janeiro.

A minority of cities reported taking actions aligned with Target 12. These include actions such as reforestation, bushfire reduction, or watershed preservation. Target 12 will mean many more cities need to adopt sustainable practices, from enhancing green spaces to increasing urban biodiversity, as a part of daily life.

Cities are planning for the long-term but missing the urgency of now. A third of actions will have to wait over a quarter of a century to be realized. The nature crisis can’t wait that long for cities to take action.

CDP’s new work in this year is enabling cities, states & regions to take stronger action – expanding its questionnaire to cover more nature data points; providing tailor-made insights based on an authority’s location, and ensuring all data supports effective decision-making.

Our success will be based on data

In 2022, 196 countries signed the Global Biodiversity Framework, an historic agreement which committed the international community to protecting nature by the end of the decade.

Data is essential to understanding if the GBF is succeeding - or will be successful - over the coming years. This analysis has confined itself to tracking three of the 23 targets set within the GBF. By doing so we catch a glimpse of how the public and private sectors are responding to the challenge.

There are signs they are waking up to the threats caused by nature loss, but clearer policies are needed to accelerate action. Increased disclosure rates highlight a growing awareness and new commitments to rapidly address the crisis.

But we are running out of time. There are just six years to act on the promise of the GBF and save the Earth and economy from catastrophe. It is critical we scale environmental disclosure and access to high-quality nature data, if we are to have the tools to course correct.

Contact us to access CDP data