Creating a Nature Positive Economy for Ireland

Does your business want to do something impactful for biodiversity, but you‘re not sure where to start?

Business for Biodiversity Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation on a mission to get nature into the boardroom. Take the first step by joining the Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme!

The Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme

The Discovery Track is an entry point for conscientious businesses who are motivated to take action for nature. Businesses can register for this free track and gain access to resources to help them enhance their biodiversity knowledge and get started on their nature-positive journey.

Members will also have access to three thematic webinars delivered in a four-monthly cycle throughout the year. The aim of this track is to build awareness and confidence to take the next steps and progress to the Action Track.

Output: Enhanced understanding of biodiversity

Output: Double Materiality Assessment

Output: Nature Strategy

Output: Implementation Plan

“Participating in the BFBI Community of Practice has been invaluable in helping us understand our role in protecting and restoring biodiversity. We have much more to learn and do but having the opportunity to collaborate with leading experts and other businesses has helped direct our approach and given us insights and tools that we will continue to use.”

“Our participation in the platform has greatly increased our understanding of biodiversity-related risks and opportunities and helped to increase our alignment with global and national biodiversity goals and disclosure frameworks.”

Frequently asked questions

Answers to your questions on joining BFBI

“Nature’s ability to provide the goods and services on which we depend is being undermined, presenting enormous risks to prosperity”

Henry M. Paulson, Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 2020

Nature is our life support system. It is the source and sustains the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use and the world of business and finance is entirely dependent upon it. If our natural systems collapses and ecosystems break down, the world may become uninhabitable for many species, including humans. Without nature, we have nothing.

Nature is everyone’s business. Every business has some impact and some dependency on nature. Your nature-related impacts are often sitting in the value chain. How can your business minimise its nature-related impacts? How can your business model evolve to ensure that it operates within the planetary boundaries?

This depends on the stage each business is at, with a breakdown of each track and fees below 

The Discovery Track is free for all.

The Action Track (Track 2): For small organisations (<50 employees) costs 1,800 euro, and stays the same for each subsequent track. 

The Action Track (Track 2) for medium-to-large organisations (>50) is 5,000 euro. Members may be eligible to have fees covered through the GreenStart Fund or other grants, through Enterprise Ireland or your Local Enterprise Office – we will talk businesses through these grant options in your initial one-to-one session with us. 

  • Engagement in the active practice of identifying nature-related dependencies, impacts,  risks and opportunities (DIROs). 
  • Ongoing support to refine and reiterate your nature strategies to 2030 and beyond.
  • Access to advice, time-saving templates and guidance on ESG obligations, developed for the Irish context, in easy-to-understand language. 
  • Guidance to create a credible and impactful nature strategy, aligned with global and national targets, such as the Global Biodiversity Framework (also known as the Biodiversity Plan), the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the National Biodiversity Action Plan and regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)  and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
  • Support in the delivery of your Environmental Social Governance (ESG)/Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives, for the triple benefit of business, nature, and society. 
  • Guidance on preparation for mandatory and voluntary reporting directives focused on nature and biodiversity, such as CSRD.
  • Guidance in completing a double materiality assessment to fulfil environmental reporting requirements.
  • A four-track process to create a credible and effective biodiversity strategy to for your business.
  • Help to ensure the resilience of your organisation and value chains by identifying the nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities and investing in the protection of natural resources and natural capital, particularly for high-impact businesses and sectors.
  • A means to demonstrate leadership to consumers and customers in becoming nature positive by evolving your sector and transforming the current business system.
  • Collaborating in developing best-practice sector-specific guidance. 
  • Becoming an advocacy voice for nature-related policymaking to protect businesses from the negative impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change. 
  • Sharing your experiences, successes and peer-to-peer learning within your community as you create and benefit from supportive relationships with other organisations in your sector. 
  • Up-to-date global research in this rapidly changing landscape.
  • Further opportunities for networking with peers through participation in BFBI Track Membership and National Sectoral Assemblies.

Your business may be eligible to have BFBI membership fees covered by green grant schemes administered by Enterprise Ireland or your Local Enterprise Office. If you’re eligible, we can help you with your grant application. Contact us for more details.

BFBI is about empowering people and business. BFBI’s mission is to create a nature-positive economy for Ireland, and a sustainable world for our collective future. 

BFBI is focused on building internal capacity and upskilling Ireland’s business community in the subject of nature-related risk assessment and strategy.

Research has shown that individual businesses acting in isolation cannot catalyse the transition to a nature positive economic future, and BFBI’s National Sectoral Assemblies on Nature centres on creating and facilitating working groups for various sectors. By working in community, with all relevant research, policy and legislation presented in accessible formats, we can move more quickly and efficiently toward a new culture of Irish business.

Getting Started with Business For Biodiversity Ireland

Business for Biodiversity Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation supporting businesses
in their journey to nature positive.