Options for action by governments, financial institutions and civil society to create an enabling environment

The IPBES methodological assessment of the impacts and dependencies of business on biodiversity aims to support efforts by businesses to contribute to the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and the Convention on Biological Diversity objectives by strengthening the knowledge base on the impacts and dependencies of businesses on biodiversity. This includes strengthening the knowledge base among key players — people and organizations who both can influence and become affected by decisions — to boost collective expertise, insights and information. As key players, we consider governments, the financial system, and other actors, considered to be civil society, including consumers, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Recognising that businesses operate within larger societal and legal contexts and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, the assessment describes potential options for how these actors may use measures of dependence and impact to promote and evaluate businesses actions and performance and help achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity. Transformative change will be needed to change the existing enabling environment for businesses and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Transformative change is system-wide therefore to achieve it requires a whole of society and whole of government approach that engages all actors and sectors in visioning and contributing collaboratively to transformative change. This presentation summarizes the various actors that can create an enabling environment, why they are essential in supporting measures of impacts and dependencies by businesses, and what the options for action by these actors are that can support business efforts. For all actors, the following categories of enabling conditions are considered: 1) legal and regulatory 2) economics and financial 3) norms and values, 4) technology and data and 5) capacity and knowledge. Finally, we present the assessment’s vision of how the options for action by these actors can come together to change the existing enabling environment to one which supports transformative change by businesses.