Common language
Words
Sources sit on the frameworks page. Once this vocabulary is shared, modules and scenarios become judgment practice.
01
CBD
Nature Positive
Nature Positive
A societal goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, using 2020 as the baseline, and to achieve recovery by 2050. The object of measurement is the state of nature (species, ecosystems, integrity).
Mix-up: It is neither a CBD treaty term nor a legal duty on companies. It is not another name for tree-planting counts, donations, or carbon offsets.
02
CBD
Halt and reverse
Halt and reverse nature loss
Not only slowing the rate of loss, but reversing the decline curve so that nature increases in net terms. Same direction as the KMGBF 2030 mission.
Mix-up: “Slowing the worsening” is not enough. It is also different from a zero balance (no net loss).
03
CBD
2020 baseline
2020 baseline
The reference year against which the state of nature is compared. Distinct from climate baselines of 1990 or 2005. 2050 is the year by which recovery is to be reached.
Mix-up: Using a company’s founding year or latest fiscal year as the baseline makes results incomparable.
04
CBD
No net loss / net gain
No net loss / net gain
No net loss is a zero balance of losses and offsets. Net gain means the state of nature is better than the baseline. Nature Positive includes the latter.
Mix-up: They are not the same. Stopping at zero and reversing so that nature increases are different.
05
CBD
CBD
Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity. Its objectives are conservation, sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. A treaty among Parties.
Mix-up: Do not treat it as the same as the Paris Agreement (climate) or TNFD (a voluntary disclosure framework).
06
KMGBF
KMGBF
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
CBD COP15 Decision 15/4 (2022). Four 2050 goals and 23 targets for 2030. The 2050 vision is “a world of living in harmony with nature.”
Mix-up: It is not a relabelling of the SDGs, nor a mere extension of the Aichi Targets.
07
KMGBF
30by30 (Target 3)
30x30 / Target 3
Conserve at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030 through protected areas, OECMs and similar measures.
Mix-up: Target 2 is restoration. Company-owned land is not automatically counted. Quality and equity are conditions.
08
KMGBF
Target 15
Target 15
Parties take measures to ensure that large companies and financial institutions assess and disclose risks, dependencies and impacts, and reduce negative impacts.
Mix-up: It is not a provision that binds companies directly. TNFD is a voluntary disclosure framework that supports implementation.
09
KMGBF
OECM
Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures
Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures: geographically defined measures outside protected areas that deliver effective biodiversity conservation. They can count toward 30by30 area.
Mix-up: Not another name for carbon credits. Registration does not make impacts zero.
10
KMGBF
NBSAP
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan: the national strategy through which a Party implements the KMGBF. Content differs by country.
Mix-up: It is not an NDC under the Paris Agreement, nor the TNFD recommendations themselves.
11
IPBES
IPBES
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The Global Assessment (2019) set out five direct drivers and NCP.
Mix-up: Roughly analogous to IPCC for climate, but a separate organisation with separate assessments.
12
IPBES
Direct drivers
Direct drivers of nature change
Land- and sea-use change, direct exploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species. Globally, land- and sea-use change is the largest.
Mix-up: Population, consumption, trade and governance are indirect drivers. Plastic is one form of pollution.
13
Natural capital
Natural capital
Natural capital
The stock of nature — soils, water, living organisms, the atmosphere and so on — from which services (flows) arise.
Mix-up: It is not the book value of a forest, nor the market price of carbon credits.
14
Natural capital
NCP / ecosystem services
Nature’s contributions to people / ecosystem services
Provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services (MEA). IPBES NCP extends this framing and can include cultural values and negative contributions.
Mix-up: Pollination is regulating. Timber is provisioning. Primary production is supporting. These are easy to mix up.
15
TNFD
Dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities (DIRO)
Dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities
What the organisation relies on in nature, what it changes, how that affects finance, and where opportunities lie. Core TNFD language.
Mix-up: Having impacts does not mean dependencies are zero. Many businesses have both at once.
16
TNFD
TNFD
Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Four pillars (governance / strategy / risk and impact management / metrics and targets) and 14 recommended disclosures.
Mix-up: Neither a WEF subsidiary nor a CBD treaty body. A voluntary disclosure framework.
17
TNFD
LEAP
Locate → Evaluate → Assess → Prepare
An internal assessment path: locate interfaces, evaluate dependencies and impacts, assess risks and opportunities, prepare to respond and disclose.
Mix-up: A different layer from the four pillars (disclosure headings). Do not swap Evaluate and Assess.
18
Business
Physical, transition and systemic risks
Physical, transition and systemic risks
Physical: nature change hitting the business. Transition: changes in regulation, markets and reputation. Systemic: collapse of nature on which the economy as a whole depends.
Mix-up: “Small Scope 1 means light nature risk” is wrong (especially for finance).
19
Business
Mitigation hierarchy / AR3T
Mitigation hierarchy / Avoid–Reduce–Restore–Regenerate–Transform
Avoid first, then reduce, restore on site, and transform systems. Offsets are last, for residuals only.
Mix-up: Buying credits first and writing “achieved” is low integrity.
20
Business
ACT-D
Assess · Commit · Transform · Disclose
High-level business actions: Assess, Commit, Transform, Disclose. Shared by Business for Nature, WBCSD, WEF, TNFD, SBTN and others. The backbone of WBCSD Roadmaps.
Mix-up: Not a rewording of LEAP. LEAP is assessment; ACT-D is the business sequence.
21
Business
WEF USD 44 trillion
Nature Risk Rising (2020)
More than half of the world’s economic value generation (about USD 44 trillion) is moderately or highly dependent on nature. The case for treating nature as a management issue.
Mix-up: Not an issue only for SMEs, and not one that can wait until 2050.
22
Business
WEF USD 10.1 trillion / 395 million jobs
The Future of Nature and Business (2020)
Fifteen transitions in three socio-economic systems (food, land and ocean use; infrastructure and the built environment; extractives and energy) could generate up to USD 10.1 trillion in annual business value and 395 million jobs by 2030.
Mix-up: The risk figure (USD 44 trillion) and the opportunity figure (USD 10.1 trillion) come from different reports. Do not mix them.