The Business Case for Nature: Confronting Biodiversity Risk
Businesses increasingly recognise that nature is not just a backdrop to economic activity but its foundation. This perspective shaped the recent event, Business Impact: Driving Biodiversity Recovery Through Business Action, where researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders gathered to discuss how organisations can actively contribute to restoring the natural world.
Magnitude of challenge
Professor Nalin Thakkar opened the event, introducing keynote speakers Andrea Ledward CBE, Director of International Biodiversity and Climate at DEFRA, and Dr Katie Leach, Biodiversity Specialist at IPBES. Both speakers emphasised that biodiversity loss is accelerating and requires a collective response. Ledward highlighted the magnitude of the challenge, while Leach questioned how we can collaborate effectively to create real change. Their insights underscored the need for alignment among scientific evidence, policy goals, and business efforts to accelerate nature recovery.
Panel insights
An expert panel session led by KatieJo Luxton, Director of Global Conservation at the RSPB, brought together a range of perspectives from across sectors. Panellists included Dr Tom Burditt, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, 野狼社区 and North Merseyside; Javed Siddiqi, Senior Lecturer at Alliance 野狼社区 Business School; Anna Gilchrist, Lecturer in Ecology at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Jo Harrison, Director of Environment, Planning and Innovation at United Utilities; and Ed Pollard, UK Business & Biodiversity Forum CIC.
Nature connectedness
The panel focused on the realities of landscape restoration, emphasising its incremental, place-based nature whilst balancing with the role of technology and data, while highlighting the importance of understanding ecological systems rather than relying on simplistic solutions. Gilchrist also reflected on the human dimension of biodiversity recovery, noting that 鈥�we need to invest deeply in nature connectedness鈥�, encouraging people鈥檚 love of nature to cross boundaries and extend into the workplace.
Humanities interpretation
A recurring theme across these contributions was the importance of communication. Not just more communication, but clearer, accessible messaging that bridges disciplines and facilitates a shared language among organisations.
As the event was concluded by Fiona Divine, discussions explored the role of the humanities in this effort. While science provides the evidence, the humanities help interpret and turn it into action. This interdisciplinary view emphasised that biodiversity recovery is not solely a scientific or technical challenge but fundamentally a human one.