The UK government has been asked to outline a plan for mandatory adoption of the reporting recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to help drive the development of a nature-positive economy. The Aldersgate Group, which represents leading UK businesses, professional institutes and trade associations on sustainability issues, said the introduction of legal disclosure obligations would increase awareness of businesses’ nature dependencies and impacts, in a report which specified policy and regulatory actions needed to enable businesses to contribute to the protection and restoration of the natural environment. The briefing also recommended that the government use the next iteration of its annual Environmental Improvement Plan to create a framework to deliver sector-specific nature-positive pathways. In addition, it said the UK’s Land Use Framework should be used to provide guidance to businesses on actions they can take to support nature recovery and nature-based climate change adaptation and mitigation. Further recommendations included developing a delivery plan to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework target to protect at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, supporting the development of nature markets, and increasing ambition for Biodiversity Net Gain initiatives. “To deliver a thriving economy and improved living standards in the future, the government must ensure that we protect and restore our natural environment,” said Rachel Solomon Williams, Executive Director at the Aldersgate Group. “The UK must deliver a policy landscape that maximises the ability of both the private and public sectors to restore biodiversity and guard against future environmental degradation.” Separately, companies have been given guidance on the development of nature transition plans that align business practices with global biodiversity goals by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
