Urban Insight | Biodiversity: Key steps to future-proof your business

To better understand how industries are responding to biodiversity loss, Sweco recently examined how the 50 largest European manufacturing and energy companies are addressing biodiversity in their sustainability reporting. The findings are published in a new Urban Insight-report.

A Strategic Business Necessity

Biodiversity is rapidly emerging as a critical pillar of business resilience and long-term value creation. With more than €50 trillion in global economic activity moderately to highly dependent on nature, protecting biodiversity is a strategic necessity.

Nature delivers essential services, such as regulating climate, pollinating crops, and protecting infrastructure, services fundamental to both human well-being and economic stability. Yet, these critical natural assets are under threat. The good news? Solutions aimed at adding value to the nature could unlock €10 trillion in new business value and create up to 395 million jobs by 2030, according to global estimates.

The results of Sweco’s study, reveal a growing recognition of biodiversity impacts, but a possibility for persistent underestimation of biodiversity-related financial risks.

By integrating biodiversity and climate strategies into core operations, businesses can contribute to positive societal changes, mitigate risks through resilient business models and tap into new markets and business opportunities.

Five steps to future-proof your business for nature

Biodiversity can seem complex, but taking the first step is what matters most. Sweco experts recommend five practical and iterative actions for building nature-aligned business strategies:

1. Understand your company’s activities and value chains – Get to know the full scope of your operations and stakeholders. Transparency leads to better decision-making.
2. Know your business´ impacts and dependencies – Be specific. Quantifying your relationship with nature allows for actionable insights and realistic goal-setting.
3. Collaborate to shape the future – Leverage the diverse perspectives of your stakeholders to address biodiversity challenges with inclusive, effective solutions.
4. Manage risks and leverage opportunities – Consider both operational and systemic risks. Recognise where nature loss can disrupt operations — and where restoring it can unlock value.
5. Transform to make business for nature – Shift from exploiting nature to restoring and regenerating it. Align your business model with ecosystem health and resilience.