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The dramatic loss of biodiversity threatens our basis of life. Science, politics, business, and civil society must now join forces to promote nature-positive corporate action.

The advancing warming of the climate and the unchecked loss of global biodiversity threaten our basis of life, and all of humanity.

We are currently on a course toward a 3°C rise in temperatures and the loss of one million species by the end of the century. These dramatic developments are of our own making. We are using natural resources beyond their capacity limits and continue to rely on an economic order that allows us to take advantage of the diverse ecosystem services at no cost. As a result, we are destroying natural resources, including biodiversity, thereby endangering our very own future. 

We are in dire need of a decisive trend reversal toward an economic order that puts an adequate price on the use of nature – and not just in monetary terms. After the sobering outcome of the recently concluded World Climate Summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh, this applies all the more to the World Biodiversity Summit in Montreal, which begins next week. A binding global agreement of historic proportions is required for the protection of nature. It must provide a framework for halting the loss of biodiversity, preserving intact natural areas, managing them sustainably, and restoring habitats that have been destroyed. 

In this context, Germany must acknowledge its responsibility and take on a pioneering role. As the world’s fourth-largest economy, we create an immense “biodiversity footprint”: The global value chains of German companies have a significant impact on nature, frequently contributing to its destruction. However, an increasing number of companies are willing to take responsibility and help initiate a reversal of this trend. Germany offers particularly suitable framework conditions in this regard. There are few countries that produce scientific findings on biodiversity on a comparable scale; that boast a similar volume of solid, area-wide biodiversity data; and that are launching such ambitious initiatives aimed at global nature conservation as Germany. 

As the initiators of this declaration, we call on science, politics, business, and civil society to join forces. The aim of our joint commitment is to create the necessary conditions for nature-positive, i.e., resource- and nature-conserving, corporate action to prove worthwhile. A successful trendreversal is only possible if companies make a strong commitment by ceasing environmentally harmful behavior and using new business models and innovative technologies to sustainably benefit from global biodiversity. Our initiative is open, and we cordially invite committed comrades-in-arms to become actively involved.

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