EU Report Maps Path to Nature-Positive Transformation in Built Environment

The European Business and Biodiversity (EU B&B) Platform recently released a report, The EU Business and Biodiversity’s Sector Sprint Report 2023, focusing on the built environment’s role in biodiversity loss and proposing transformative actions. The report stems from the EU B&B Platform’s collaboration with representatives from the built environment, investors, and policymakers, aiming to identify strategies for achieving nature-positive models.

The built environment, encompassing buildings, urban spaces, infrastructure, and transportation, significantly contributes to biodiversity loss through material extraction, land use changes, pollution, and disturbance of the water cycle. While some companies and financiers are incorporating nature-positive principles, obstacles persist, necessitating collective action involving business, finance, and policy.

Key drivers of change, including technological, financial, and political factors, are explored in the report, emphasizing the role of finance and policy as enablers of nature-positive trajectories. The report highlights challenges such as material extraction’s impact on biodiversity, the need for sustainable land use, and the role of the finance sector in driving transformative change.

Dependencies in the built environment, such as reliance on minerals and raw materials, are discussed, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach from raw material extraction to development, use, and end-of-life stages. The report introduces the concept of a nature-positive perspective, aiming not only to reduce impacts but to enhance or restore natural functions and species richness across the supply chain.

The report outlines a nature-positive vision for the built environment, focusing on circular material use, zero deforestation, conversion-free land use, and sustainable management of surface and groundwater resources. Examples of actions are explored, illustrating the diverse range of initiatives required for a nature-positive transformation.

Challenges identified in the sector include measurement difficulties, finance-related obstacles, and the need for policy clarification. The finance sector is recognized as a crucial enabler of nature-positive change, with a growing business case for investing in nature. Corporate engagement is emphasized, highlighting the influence of the financial sector on the built environment’s impact on biodiversity.

The report underscores the role of policy in enabling nature-positive transformative change, with a focus on initiatives like the EU Taxonomy and Nature Restoration Law. The EU Taxonomy aims to assess the environmental sustainability of activities and investments, with explicit differentiation between new constructions and renovations concerning biodiversity criteria.

In conclusion, the report calls for a collective effort involving business, finance, and policy to build a nature-positive transition agenda for the built environment. It provides insights into defining transformative actions, identifying finance and policy levers, and emphasizes the importance of a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to achieve a nature-positive future in the built sector.