Businesses Risk Extinction Unless They Protect Nature, Landmark IPBES Report Warns

The global economy is devouring the natural systems it depends on for survival, and businesses that fail to reverse course risk their own extinction. That is the blunt conclusion of a landmark report approved last week at the 12th plenary session of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in Manchester, United Kingdom The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

The Business and Biodiversity Assessment, produced over three years by 79 experts from 35 countries drawn from both science and the private sector, represents the first time IPBES has directly addressed the corporate world. Its central finding is stark: every business on Earth depends on biodiversity, yet the collective weight of commercial activity is destroying the ecosystems that underpin economic prosperity The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

The scale of the financial mismatch is difficult to overstate. In 2023, some $7.3 trillion in finance — around two-thirds from private sources — flowed to enterprises with direct negative impacts on nature, according to the report . Most government subsidies went to fossil fuels and agriculture, sectors with outsized ecological footprints . By contrast, a mere 3% of that figure, or $220 billion in public and private finance, was invested in biodiversity conservation The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

That disparity aligns with a separate United Nations analysis from January showing that harmful investments destroying nature are 30 times higher than financing directed towards environmental protection The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

The assessment paints a picture of systemic failure. Less than 1% of publicly reporting companies reference their impacts on biodiversity, despite operating within ecosystems they are actively degrading . The report authors point to an absence of adequate rewards and penalties to inspire behavioural change, combined with business models fixated on quarterly earnings and shareholder dividends The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

Co-chair Stephen Polasky, who specialises in ecological and environmental economics at the University of Minnesota, described the situation as a twisted reality in which it often seems more profitable to businesses to degrade biodiversity than to protect it . He emphasised that better stewardship of biodiversity is not some distant environmental issue but a core challenge now in every boardroom and cabinet-room The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

The economic risks are already materialising. The report details how the 300% increase in the value of agricultural production since 1970 has come at a severe cost: by 2019, up to $577 billion in annual global crop output was at risk due to the decline in pollinator diversity and land degradation . Fishery habitats are shrinking as coral reefs die off from pollution and climate change, while agricultural products like fruit face uncertain futures as pollinators disappear The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

Ximena Rueda, a researcher at Colombia's Universidad de los Andes and co-chair of the assessment, stated that better engagement with nature is not optional for business — it is a necessity, calling corporate environmental stewardship vital for their bottom line and long-term prosperity The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

The report does not merely catalogue the damage. It provides more than 100 specific actions across five core business components — governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets, and stakeholder engagement — designed to create an enabling environment for sustainability The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments.. These range from better data and knowledge systems to quantify impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, to reformed incentive structures that align profitability with ecological outcomes.

Yet the assessment also identifies deep structural barriers. Businesses frequently face what the authors call perverse incentives that perpetuate nature-negative business-as-usual and hinder efforts to reverse biodiversity decline . Voluntary disclosure frameworks have proven insufficient, and enforcement of environmental regulations remains weak The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

Critics of the current approach argue that voluntary commitments are meaningless without binding regulation. The report itself notes that industrial development threatens 60% of Indigenous lands worldwide, and that a quarter of all Indigenous territories are under high pressure from resource exploitation — yet Indigenous Peoples and local communities often find themselves inadequately represented in business research and decision-making The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments..

Matt Jones from the UN World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, one of three co-chairs of the assessment, framed the choice starkly: businesses can either lead transformative change or ultimately risk extinction — both of species in nature, but potentially also their own The economy's secret lifeline? Naturedw.com·SecondaryA business model heavily focused on growth at the expense of nature is not only unsustainable, but threatens extinction if not reversed. That's according to a landmark "Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report" published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global independent research body comprising more than 150 member states' governments.. The report, he said, draws on thousands of sources, bringing together years of research and practice into a single integrated framework that shows both the risks of nature loss to business and the opportunities for business to help reverse it.

The assessment was received last week with cautious optimism by conservation organisations. Leigh Morris, International Director of The Wildlife Trusts consortium, said what is needed now are clear metrics and toolkits so businesses can get their own houses in order on biodiversity. For many businesses, he added, engaging with nature protection has gone from a nice-to-do to a must-do.

The IPBES report arrives at a precarious moment for global environmental governance. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in December 2022, set ambitious targets for halting biodiversity loss by 2030, but implementation has been slow and financing inadequate. IPBES executive secretary Luthando Dziba called the assessment the first report of its kind to provide guidance on how businesses can contribute to those 2030 goals.

Whether last week's assessment prompts genuine corporate transformation or becomes another well-documented warning that goes unheeded will depend on whether governments are willing to reshape the incentive structures that currently make environmental destruction the rational economic choice. The report's authors are clear: the current trajectory is unsustainable, and the window for action is narrowing.