WWF-UK has today (29 November) called on the UK Government to uphold its leadership position in steering negotiations at the UN Biodiversity Summit (CBD COP15), which takes place next week in Montreal. The aim of the Summit is to agree on a new global treaty that would enshrine biodiversity protection into national plans and laws.
As one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world, the hope is that the call to action may force the hand of the UK presence at the Biodiversity Summit. The protection, restoration and sustainable management of natural resources are essential to mitigate the impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises.
Current frameworks include a headline ambition of halting nature loss by 2030 and delivering a net-positive impact on nature thereafter. There have been calls for a more ambitious agreement which would not, technically, allow nature loss to accelerate in the coming years.
With COP27 and the upcoming COP15, 2022 is a critical year for biodiversity and our planet. The UK is committed to working with the OSCE and other international partners to secure an ambitious post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. In collaboration with others, the UK has developed a 10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity, which defines a clear pathway for bridging the global nature finance gap.
But where do businesses start with ESG reporting, let alone get ahead of the upcoming trends and changes to legislations? There is no question that the ESG landscape is becoming more and more complex. There are a myriad of ESG issues to report on and it is difficult to decide how to prioritise what to report on.
The breadth and depth of ESG issues are significant. Narrowing down this breadth and depth to a manageable level is the purpose of selecting a framework and then conducting a materiality assessment in accordance with that framework.
Rio’s ESG Materiality Assessment
Through stakeholder engagement, Rio ESG can help you establish the most material environment, social, governance and economic topics to your business. Materiality assessments act as the basis of sustainability strategies and will help direct your efforts to become more sustainable.
Knowing how your organisation is performing on environmental, social, and governance issues is important. But in order to benchmark that performance and communicate it to investors, regulators, and other stakeholders, it is important to align your reporting with standard sustainability and ESG frameworks.
There’s no one framework that suits every organisation. That’s why Rio supports easy disclosures aligned with a wide range of frameworks and legislation.
With Rio, you can track data and generate reports aligned with the framework of your choice in just a few clicks, saving you hours of form-filling and legalese-reading.
At Rio, we see that corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals need a more holistic approach to ensure that companies not only reduce their carbon footprint but also increase their social stewardship. Only those that truly understand sustainability will act impactfully and be financially successful.
Don’t know where to start? Contact us today to begin your sustainability journey today.
