The climate-nature nexus is emerging as a critical consideration for businesses conducting climate transition or net zero planning. The Risilience Sustainable Futures conference held at the end of May in the Barbican Centre explored the topic, focusing on connecting climate and nature with business for better outcomes. Three notable case studies emerged from the morning’s panels and presentations, demonstrating how climate and nature can present trade-offs and opportunities for businesses, as well as some best practices for taking action.
Highlighting the potential trade-offs between climate and nature in decarbonization decisions, Horst Rakel, Director EHS EMEA & Asia at nVent – a $3 billion+ electrical manufacturing firm – discussed rolling out solar PVS across its factories. He said that the team has two options of where to install the panels: the rooftop or the ground. With older buildings, they are often not structurally designed to hold the weight (and to ensure the panels are resistant to storms or snow doubles the cost and pulls budget away from other projects). But installing them on the ground could impact local biodiversity.
Alternatively, Alison Bewick, Global Head of Risk at Nestlé, framed climate and nature as presenting co-benefits. She discussed how, as 70% of Nestlé’s footprint is from ingredient sourcing, the firm needed to collaborate with its suppliers. The firm reached out to over 5 million farmers to provide training on regenerative agriculture practices. One initiative they enacted was planting 3 million fruit trees: allowing shade for coffee plants, ensuring rich soil content and providing income or food for the farmers. Acknowledging that undertaking regenerative agriculture practices can pose a risk to farmers and suppliers, Bewick stressed that Nestlé pays a premium and commits to buying more of the supplier’s stock to help farmers with the investment.
Finally, a broader best practice on ensuring accountability emerged from PepsiCo Europe’s CSO, Archana Jagannathan. At PepsiCo, the CSO signs off on all capital requests, and in its quarterly reports the organization utilizes positive performance scorecards, where leading sustainability indicators are tracked and measured in the same way it would measure financial indicators. Incorporating sustainability and climate metrics and analysis into financial planning and assessments like this embeds them into the way the business functions and ensures they are considered throughout all decision-making processes.
