The alphabet soup: There are a growing number of reporting frameworks and standards. Taken together these acronyms lead to an overwhelming ‘alphabet soup’. For example, SASB, GRI, TCFD, TNFD, CDP, CDSB, IIRC to name a few.

Sustainability team overwhelm: For sustainability professionals reporting against many standards increases complexity and time. It also distracts from sustainability initiatives.

Case in point: Research from Nature Metrics suggests four in five companies are unprepared for reporting under TNFD

The guidance acts like a big map to show where the standards are similar. Think … 80’s US crime drama where suspects are connected with red bits of string.

It shows that companies following either standard, can report against both with minimal extra effort. Good news for biodiversity reporting as GRI has a whopping 14,000 companies.

Big business:  Consumer goods giants including Nestle, Mars Wrigley and Ferrero have backed the European Union's upcoming ban on imported goods linked to deforestation, amid calls from some companies to delay it.

Big business: Discount retailer Lidl has committed to investing £300m annually in the British beef sector for the next five years to support adoption of regenerative farming practices, grassland management and reducing carbon

Finance: The Australian government has issued a call for partners to help develop biodiversity credit project under the Nature Repair Market (NRM), with $2 mln available in funding 

Finance: The Central Bank of Netherland highlights the significant exposure of financial institutions to companies with high or very high dependency on ecosystem services. Dutch financial institutions report having 36% of their total assets, or EUR 510 billion in investments, exposed to the risk of biodiversity loss 

Finance: The ESG labelled bonds market saw a noticeable deceleration in 2Q24, with possible reasons being increased regulatory or reporting fatigue. However, SustainableFitch believe the EU’s Nature Restoration Law could boost issuance in H224

Nature-For-Sale: Watchdog identifies endangered forest land in two Malaysian states listed for online sale

Policy: Time to get to know your supply chain - the  EU adopted its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive this week. It gives companies a set of obligations to manage impacts of their activities on human rights and environmental matters

Policy:The latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks failed to break a deadlock on reform aimed at strengthening rules on harmful fisheries subsidies, with the EU and the US blaming India for thwarting the deal.

Policy: Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially launched a five-year partnership to safeguard  marine biodiversity and fisheries resources in the Indo-Pacific region.

Research: Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned

Research:  Australia could mend much of its degraded landscapes by directing just 0.3% of GDP to restoration. This could be done in a way that increases agricultural productivity on prime farmland, supports jobs and businesses in regional areas a new study has found.

No deal this week but…Silverstrand Capital announced its latest cohort of eight companies it will put through its biodiversity accelerator

04 August -  17th International Peatland Congress - China

09 August - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

26 August - 14th European Conference on Ecological Restoration - Estonia

1 September - The African Bioacoustics Conference - Cape Town

30 September - Nature for Life Hub 2024 - Virtual

8 October - The Global Nature Positive Summit 2024 - Sydney

Oct 24 - Bloom - Colombia

Sustainability Specialist, Nature/Biodiversity @ Aldi (Aurora, US)

Analyst, Climate and Nature Data Analytics @ VF Corporation,(Denver, US)

NBS Expert: Carbon, Forestry, Agriculture @ Total Energies, (Paris, France)

Climate, Nature, and Social Risk Intelligence Lead, Vice President @ JP Morgan (New York, US)

Investment Associate @ Schmidt Family Foundation,  (San Francisco, US)

Investment Director / Manager @ Natural Heritage, (remote, East or Southern Africa)

Senior Project Finance Lead @ Earthshot  (remote/ New York / San Francisco, US)

Senior Software Engineer @ NalaEarth

Chief Science & Policy Officer @ Kanop

Check out Theresa Lieb’s post for even more