Ecosystems provide us with vital "services" such as air purification, climate regulation, food, medicine, and even cultural and psychological benefits. In addition, an intact nature protects us against the environmental disruptions that climate change brings (such as floods or extreme temperatures). Sadly, however, the stability and resilience of nature on our planet is in staggering decline, as we are losing biodiversity and destroying ecosystems at an alarming and unprecedented rate and scale.

If humanity - by far the major contributor to biodiversity loss - continues on this path, we risk eroding the foundation on which we all depend, ultimately threatening the habitability of our planet.As with climate change, a major push to combat the loss of biodiversity and halt the damages done to nature is long overdue. The world has seen populations of individual species drop by almost 70% since 1970 - while the human population has more than doubled during the same period. As our economies are major drivers of this loss of biodiversity, and more than half of the global GDP is dependent on nature as a "service provider," the biodiversity crisis urgently requires the attention and action of the private sector.

There is an enormous gap here: while the climate crisis has rightfully gained widespread attention, it is now imperative to address the biodiversity crisis with the same vigor.With Germany being one of the world's most powerful economies, German companies have enormous impact on biodiversity loss through both their in-house operations and global value chains.

General awareness of this is sharply increasing at present, as became clear from the interviews we conducted for this study: in talking to 22 major German companies, we observed that an increasing number are recognizing the extent of both their influence and their dependence on nature, closely following upcoming regulations, and starting to take action.