Reversing biodiversity loss: How governments, businesses and citizens must respond

Published on: May 28, 2025

The health of our ecosystems is deteriorating and urgent action is needed to reverse global biodiversity loss. This requires a unified effort from governments, businesses, financial institutions and communities to embed nature into every aspect of decision-making.

A critical lever is finance. Financial institutions must assess biodiversity-related risks and impacts, shifting capital flows towards nature-positive investments. These investments not only preserve ecosystems but also build resilience and long-term value.

Technological innovation, especially in digital tools and artificial intelligence, is key to accelerating biodiversity monitoring and data analysis. These advancements enable faster and more accurate decision-making, helping to design targeted conservation strategies.

Nature-based solutions offer powerful, scalable approaches to restore ecosystems and tackle environmental challenges such as climate change and pollution. Aligning with natural processes makes these solutions more sustainable and effective over the long term.

The time for action is now. The choices we make today will shape the ecosystems and societies of tomorrow.

Robust policy frameworks and clear regulations are needed to drive systemic change. By creating legal incentives for biodiversity-positive business practices, governments can encourage more sustainable models that benefit both nature and the economy.

Community involvement also plays a pivotal role. Citizen engagement and public demand for corporate transparency help build shared responsibility and put pressure on institutions to act more sustainably.

The global community has started to mobilise around shared biodiversity goals, yet progress remains uneven. To truly reverse biodiversity loss, action is required at all levels – local, national and global.

Recognising biodiversity’s role in climate stability, food security and public health is essential. Nature is not just a resource – it is the foundation of human and planetary wellbeing.

Integrating biodiversity into economic and social systems is no longer optional. It is the cornerstone of a regenerative and resilient future.

1. Incorporating biodiversity into financial decision making

• Governments: Ensure legislation mandating biodiversity reporting and disclosures is in place; incentivize nature-positive business models, such as the circular economy, through tax breaks and subsidies and remove environmentally harmful ones.
• Public Sector: Develop guidelines for biodiversity risk assessments and integrate these into procurement and investment strategies.
• Companies: Embed biodiversity into corporate strategies and identify biodiversity-related risks and opportunities. Raise awareness of the impacts and dependencies of nature in the operations and value chains. Prepare for transition plans, including finding ways to decouple the business performance not just from CO2 emissions, but also unsustainable use of nature.
• Financial Sector: Enhance ESG frameworks to include biodiversity risks and incentives for investing in biodiversity-positive projects and businesses. Develop financial products that support biodiversity conservation and restoration.
• Citizens: Demand transparency from companies regarding biodiversity in their operations and value chains, insist that politicians make the change to incentives to favour biodiversity and support biodiversity-conscious businesses and financial institutions.

2. Establishing biodiversity credit markets

• Governments: Create legal frameworks and verification systems for biodiversity credits; incentivise private sector engagement.
• Public Sector: Establish habitat banks and manage offsetting schemes in partnership with private entities. Develop standards for biodiversity units and credits.
• Companies: Avoid and minimise negative impacts, restore damages, and finally invest in biodiversity offsets and partner with conservation initiatives to compensate impacts.
• Financial Sector: Develop financial instruments for biodiversity credits and promote biodiversity as an asset class.
• Citizens: Support and participate in community-driven conservation projects enabled by offset funds.

3. Investment in restoration and biodiversity conservation

• Governments: Allocate long-term public funds for biodiversity conservation and promote public-private partnerships.
• Public Sector: Implement large-scale nature-based solutions and facilitate private sector collaborations.
• Companies: Carry out due diligence to ensure investment opportunities won’t lead to significant biodiversity impacts. Work with specialists to implement a nature-positive approach. Understand the value of incorporating nature-based solutions and functional green infrastructure.
• Financial Sector: Offer green financing options for conservation projects; integrate biodiversity risks into investment analyses.
• Citizens: Advocate for local conservation projects and participate in community initiatives.

4. Bringing biodiversity into cities

• Governments: Set biodiversity-based targets for urban green spaces and biodiversity corridors; mandate wilding efforts.
• Public Sector: Develop green urban planning strategies and provide technical support to municipalities. Create ecological corridors to connect fragmented habitats and leave space for nature to provide ecosystem services.
• Companies: Leverage environmental expertise to put biodiversity at the heart of scheme design to deliver nature-positive places that meets the needs of people and biodiversity.
• Financial Sector: Invest in sustainable urban infrastructure projects with biodiversity benefits.
• Citizens: Participate in urban wilding initiatives, create wildlife- friendly gardens and support biodiversity-enhancing development.

5. Applying digital tools and AI in biodiversity work

• Governments: Fund innovation programs for biodiversity tech and streamline data-sharing protocols. Support open data initiatives to facilitate data sharing and collaboration.
• Public Sector: Adopt AI and digital tools for biodiversity monitoring and enforcement of regulations. Develop platforms for citizen scientists to contribute to data collection.
• Companies: Develop and deploy biodiversity tech solutions; invest in AI-driven conservation strategies. Look at biodiversity as an opportunity to innovate solutions that reduce the pressure on nature.
• Financial Sector: Support biodiversity-focused tech startups and innovation funds.
• Citizens: Contribute to biodiversity monitoring via citizen science apps and initiatives.