Climate & Nature: Integrating Risk, Reporting and Strategy

Climate & Nature: Integrating Risk, Reporting and Strategy

Every cup of coffee, cotton t-shirt, or wooden furniture item in a British retail store begins with nature. 

Nature has climbed the corporate agenda, but its position has shifted. Two years ago, retail leaders treated nature and climate as separate pillars in their sustainability strategies. Borne from this momentum was the Nature Positive Plan, the first nature-focused industry plan to drive targeted action on nature. 

But the reality is that climate and nature are inseparable: tackling climate change without addressing ecosystem challenges is only addressing half of the risk.

Nature needs to be integrated into core business strategy, connected to the issues already commanding board attention: decarbonisation, climate risk, and supply chain resilience. 

For retailers, several forces are now converging.

Nature risk is materialising now.

Nature-related risk isn’t a future scenario – extreme weather shocks, water scarcity, and land and ecosystem degradation have transformed commodity disruption, food insecurity, price spikes and supply chain volatility from distant hypothetical scenarios into present day commercial risks. 

Climate and nature disclosure are board-level concerns.

Assessing the materiality of biodiversity and ecosystems will form an integral part of sustainability reporting under future obligations across the UK and EU. Even with a head start from TCFD reporting, many retailers face a real gap in quantifying financial impacts; strengthening scenario analysis and securing robust Scope 3 and nature-related data across the value chain.  

In a challenging business environment, integrated action is more efficient.

Climate and nature share data, drivers, and disclosure pathways; operationalising them together is more effective and more credible for the business than running them as separate workstreams. Bringing climate and nature together in how you holistically manage risk, resilience and strategy.   

 

About the Nature Focus Group

The Nature Focus Group is a new, collaborative, pre-competitive, Chatham House forum set to regularly convene senior nature and sustainability leads from across retail sub-sectors to work through these shared challenges – together.  

• Crack the hard questions together.
  • Work collaboratively with peers through the challenges every retailer is facing, by sharing learnings, showcasing best practice, and aligning where it counts. 
• Turn insight into action.
  • Learn from leading experts and peers on the focus areas and developments that matter most, and leave each session with something you can put into practice. 
• Stay ahead of the curve.
  • Get early sight of relevant policy, regulation and reporting through direct updates from BRC. 

Part of the BRC’s Plan for Nature and facilitated by Nature Positive and ADAS (part of RSK Group).