Yesterday I returned from COP16, the UN’s global biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia. In Cali, the world’s governments are tasked with charting a path towards “making peace with nature”. In 2022, 195 governments committed to protecting 30% of the planet and to halt and reverse the loss of nature by 2030. But in the last two years we have not been moving anywhere near fast enough. $7 trillion of capital is still being directed towards activities that contribute to deforestation, overfishing, and other practices that damage the ecosystems we depend upon.
The costs of inaction are now far greater than the cost of action. Failing to act on climate would cost the world $178 trillion by 2070 vs. $43 trillion in benefits that can be realised by acting. This is even more pronounced in nature than in climate – where investments can deliver faster and starker results. $1 spent on nature restoration yields $9 in economic benefits and we know that we cannot solve the climate crisis without solving the nature crisis. Frankly, it was surprising to see how few CEOs were at the summit when this issue is perhaps the most critical that we face.
We have the commitments, now we must move from talk to action. The public and private sectors alike must mobilise billions in nature positive finance, and our economic structures and incentives must be fundamentally reformed. Below is an excerpt of my keynote at the Business and Nature Forum.
Nature is our home and our life support system. Natural ecosystems regulate our environment, support peace and national security, and underpin the success of our economies and global financial markets. The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of nature, not the other way around.
In fact, we are an indivisible part of nature. There is no separate system—we are the system. Ultimately when we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. Recognising this is the key to living in harmony with the planet and the many millions of species that call it home.
Nature is also our most powerful ally in the fight against climate change. We cannot solve the climate crisis without solving the nature crisis. Nature-based solutions can contribute one-third of the emissions reduction needed by 2030, at just 15% of the investment.
Yet the destruction of nature is causing forests to shift from carbon sinks to sources. Canada’s 2023 wildfires released more carbon into the atmosphere than 190 of the 193 UN member states. We are literally living in a world on fire.
We know all of this, yet human activity continues to destroy our most valuable asset and our path to health, security, and prosperity. Every business in history that liquidated and sold off its assets and claimed that the proceeds were profits quickly went bankrupt. Yet this is how we are running our economy on a global scale.
During my lifetime alone, we have destroyed almost 40% of all forests, lost nearly 70% of global wildlife, and driven countless species to extinction. Humans make up just 0.01% of Earth’s biomass, yet we have systematically eradicated 83% of wild mammals.
Such systemic destruction and disregard for our dependence on biodiversity are not only moral tragedies, but deeply reckless and irresponsible acts by any standard. By continuing to tear at the threads of the natural world, we risk unravelling the entire fabric of life itself.
We are now entering unchartered territory. Until now, the resilience of natural ecosystems has enabled them to offset much of the damage we have inflicted upon them.
But that’s ending. Forests & plants are struggling to absorb CO2, oceans are straining under temperature rises, and soils are turning to sand. Nature’s ability to withstand our abuse is coming to an end. And we are beginning to pay a heavy price.
We meet here under the theme “Make Peace with Nature”. To make peace with nature is nothing less than to make peace with ourselves.
Politicians, business leaders & financial institutions are beginning to recognise the importance of acting on nature, but we are not moving anywhere near fast enough.
Each year, $7 trillion of capital is still directed towards activities that damage ecosystems, while only $20 billion is channelled towards their repair. Nature finance is woefully insufficient and inequitable, accounting for only 2% of climate finance. Investment in emerging markets and developing economies is virtually none.
The current economic model, which prioritises short-term profit and GDP growth is no longer fit for purpose. And we have got our incentives all wrong. Governments still provide $2.6 trillion in subsidies per year that encourage unsustainable production, carbon-intensive consumption, the depletion of natural resources, or the degradation of global ecosystems. This has actually increased by $800 billion a year since 2022.
This is totally mad. By failing to effectively value the natural world, we are in truth orchestrating, financing, and subsidising our own destruction. The next stage perhaps is to create a UN taskforce to draft our collective eulogy.
We now face a critical moment. Never has the science been clearer and the risks of inaction plainer. As others have said, ‘we are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last that can do anything about it.’ All of us in this room should feel the weight of this responsibility on our shoulders.
Without clear and coordinated action, the good intentions of a historic Global Biodiversity Framework and Paris Agreement are meaningless. Getting a deal for nature was the easy part, not we need to deliver.
85% countries have not met the deadline to submit National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. This reflects not only a staggering lack of urgency but also gross disrespect.
Rich governments must pay the $20 billion they promised by 2025. The money is out there. Governments allocated $16 trillion in fiscal support for COVID between 2020 – 2022, and rightly so. Who could argue that the destruction of the natural world is any less of a crisis?
We’ve promised 20% of money will go to indigenous people and local communities that are doing the work on the front lines. They will spend it better. In many cases they are literally putting their lives on the line. We must not let them down.
This is not the responsibility of governments alone. We need clear steps to mobilise $200 billion in new finance by 2030. In this area business has a critical role to play, especially in the face of increasing political polarisation and gridlock.
Businesses must account for the value of nature by assessing and disclosing their impacts and dependencies and putting this insight at their heart of their decision making. They must set science-based targets, join the leaders working with governments to design transition pathways away from environmentally harmful subsidies, and they must take action through a systems lens. Nature, climate, sustainable development, and human rights can no longer be thought of as separate issues.
But frankly, for any of this to be successful, it must be underpinned by what I call regenerative, bridging leadership. The scale of the destruction shows us that a complete mindset change is required.
The first step is to move from corporate social responsibility, or doing less bad, to becoming responsible social corporations. Business can achieve this by taking responsibility for their total impact, working across systems, and forming transformational partnerships.
The good news is that nature provides the blueprint. It is circular and generates no waste. It’s regenerative –every output is an input for another process. It is built on resource efficiently, collaboration, and symbiosis, and it constantly adapts to changing conditions and environments. Humanity, and the way we manage our economies and societies, have a whole lot to learn from nature.
When smart companies draw inspiration from nature – they to can become regenerative, restorative, and reparative. Embracing collaborative leadership is key. The task is too big to do alone.
It is clear that we should not compete on issues where the future of humanity is at stake. Collaboration with like-minded parties is how you can deliver multiplier effects. It is also how you build trust.
We come to Cali with strong commitments, growing recognition of the urgency of action, and clarity on the steps we must take. Now we must prove that we can deliver.
The talks that unfold, the decisions that are taken and the commitments that are made, or broken, at COP16 will help to determine, for better or worse, the lives of billions of people both alive and yet to be born.
To those of you in this room and across this conference centre, I ask you to be a force for peace in these negotiations. Build bridges instead of walls, collaborate across divides, when compromise is needed, find common ground. Lean into the difficult conversations, listen with empathy and an open mind, and above all, stay optimistic. As they say, the best time to act was ten years ago, the second-best time is now.
Paul Polman