Each sector needs a national pathway to protect nature, report finds

WWF-UK and insurer Aviva have made a case for government-endorsed nature-positive sectoral pathways to help the private sector and the government tackle the nature emergency together.

A new joint report, National nature-positive pathways to guide policy and private sector action, explains that the pathways would be national strategies to guide policymakers and the private sector on how different economic sectors should contribute towards the UK’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) by 2030 and beyond.

The report reasons: “With nature in freefall, posing major risks to our economy and financial system, urgent action by both the government and the private sector is needed to protect and restore nature.” Businesses and financial institutions need greater clarity, and lessons could be learned for biodiversity from the net zero transition, where sectoral pathways have been critical.

WWF and Aviva advised net zero and nature positive sectoral pathways should be integrated, “and explicitly consider the trade-offs between objectives to set out how the UK will transition to a nature-positive, net-zero economy”.

The report includes an illustrative case study on the agriculture sector.