The Nature Positive Business Pledge was developed by business, for business. The Pledge was based on the input from many UK businesses who were repeatedly engaged throughout its development. In short, this Pledge is tailored for you and is therefore likely to be the one to best suit your company’s circumstances and ambitions. The Nature Positive Business Pledge is also the only initiative of its type to provide a nature positive goal as well as outline the framework to achieve that goal. The Pledge takes a ratcheting-up approach but also builds on other initiatives and sets out a step wise journey that will enable your business to take action, track real progress, and progressively raise ambitions to bring back nature.

The Pledge document is made up of four sections:

• the first section outlines the context for the Pledge, detailing what is happening at the business and nature nexus and why businesses should join the nature positive journey
• the second section outlines the Pledge principles that businesses are expected to follow these should guide your business in the identification and implementation of appropriate nature positive strategies and actions
• the third section outlines how the Pledge works, including the ways in which it can support your business compared to other initiatives
• the final section outlines the actual commitments that your business will have to make by signing up to the Pledge.

Over time we will create a series of case studies that will demonstrate how the different aspects of the Pledge and the principles can be applied in practice. We will also host webinars to support the case studies. If you would like to share your experience of nature positive actions, then please get in touch.

We believe that the current version of the Pledge contains the core elements of a pledge for nature, and we recognise that in the future there will be changes in understanding and knowledge such as: outcomes from the Convention on Biological Diversity conferences; development of a common understanding of nature positive; and practical application of the Pledge. The Pledge will aim to be iterative to ensure relevance and practicality. We will keep updates to a minimum and inform signatories when updates are made.

Nature is being degraded faster than at any other time in human history. All businesses depend directly and indirectly on nature. The risks stemming from nature loss, and the gains to be won from supporting nature recovery, are material to you, your business and your stakeholders. It is in your company’s interest to address your impacts on nature now by starting on a journey to become nature positive. The Nature Positive Business Pledge establishes a clear framework for your business to start acting in a Nature Positive way, focused on understanding your impacts and dependencies, setting evidence-based SMART targets, tracking and reviewing your progress, and ratcheting up your ambitions. This is supported by a set of principles that will help your company start their Nature Positive journey as a robust approach and deliver benefits for nature whilst contributing to wider societal and environmental goals. Crucially, it recognises that the Nature Positive journey will not be the same for each business – it will be unique to your organisation – and this Pledge provides you with the support but also the flexibility to realistically accomplish your aspirations. Join us now to take your first step on your nature positive journey!

Yes, and we encourage you to do so! We recommend you send the elevator pitch, the website link (https://www.business-biodiversity.co.uk/nature-positive-business-pledge/) and the Pledge document.

This is a voluntary Pledge, and each organisation is required to create their own processes for monitoring and evaluating their nature positive progress. However, the Pledge Steering Group will:

• keep track of your attendance at Pledge-related meetings and events
• invite you to share you report(s); if you do not share this then you will be prompted up to three more times before the end of the year
• check that your company has published nature positive reports yearly

The Pledge steering group will inform you of this fact. If it is still not possible for your company to continue adhering to the Pledge requirements, your company logo will be taken off the website and your company will no longer be able to advertise your participation in the Pledge.

These organisations are core partners in the development and dissemination of the Pledge; however, the Pledge is an independent initiative. You do not have to be a member of one of these organisations to sign up to the Pledge, and conversely, if you are a member, you do not have to sign up to the Pledge. Committing to the Pledge is voluntary and open to all: any company can choose to sign-up. Similarly, you do not have to be a business with ties to the UK to sign-up to the Pledge. Any company from any country can choose to sign-up. It is also important to note that withdrawing from the Pledge will not change your membership to your organisation(s), if you are a member.