Strategy Track Workshop 3: bringing it all together

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Following on from earlier Strategy Track workshops, where we focused on the key elements of what a Nature Ambition Statement is (and why every organisation should have one!) and how to set SMART nature targets, BFBI Business Programme Lead Dr Catherine Farrell CIEEM, Trinity College Dublin, writes on the final in-person workshop of 2025 for our businesses in this track where we outlined how to bring all the different components together.

In our first workshop of the year, we outlined the business need for a deep understanding of your impacts and dependencies on nature, and importantly, where these occur along the business value chain. Armed with insights to our value chain and following the steady guidance of the the ACT-D framework along with resources such as the WWF Corporate Nature Targets publication, and the Science Based Targets Network framework (with lots of great resources / videos), we began to think about targets.

Exploring the idea of targets unlocks a whole suite of ensuant questions – should they be targets based on actions or outcomes, resources applied or timeline to get there, and which part of the value chain should we focus on.

Stop, take a deep breath and focus on one impact to start with. What could we do to enhance the number of trees at our direct operations? Could we then look further and think about procurement of raw materials – could we set a target to work with our suppliers and collaborate to reduce impacts at source?

Once you start exploring and collaborating, the innovation begins. The challenge then lies in monitoring and reporting: rather than re-invent wheels take a practical approach and measure what you can, where to start and build from there. You don’t want to miss any of those good learnings! We explored natural capital accounting methods to build information – showing how knowledge of the stocks and flows help inform decision making and importantly transition planning. Checking how we communicate these targets relative to our Nature Ambition Statement will keep us on course.

The team at Business for Biodiversity Ireland extend their gratitude to the Sustainable Futures team at KPMG; thanks also to our hosts Bank Of Ireland, for looking after us at their Baggot Street Head Office. As previous, we followed the guidance for the accelerator programme for businesses set out by Business for Nature under the Commit phase of their ACT-D framework.

Join the Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme for 2026! Sign up on our site or contact our Business Development Manager Dr Maria Fitzpatrick to discuss the options for your business: manager@businessforbiodiversity.ie

Resistance to regulatory rollback on nature laws

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Resistance is growing from the business community and civil society on EU plans to roll back recently introduced laws on corporate sustainability reporting intended to help halt and reverse the degradation of nature, amid lobbying by opposing political forces, with fingers now pointing at US involvement.

As the European Union heads into the final phase of negotiations on the Omnibus Package, it has confirmed that plans to scale back core elements are part of an upcoming trade agreement with the United States. Business For Nature reports that the new EU-U.S. tariff statement pledged that European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), as well as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will be adjusted so they “do not pose undue restrictions on transatlantic trade”.

However, over 400 businesses, investors and organisations have warned that weakening CSRD and CSDDD risks undermining competitiveness and long-term growth. Signatories, including the Corporate Leaders Group and Eurosif consider that regulatory simplification can be achieved without drastically compromising on the substance of sustainability rules. Read their recommendations, including advice to retain a double materiality approach HERE.

The amended European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) draft of the ESRS is currently up for public consultation until September 29, 2025 and stakeholders – including sustainability experts, investors and national authorities – are invited to share their views. EFRAG will also organise outreach events throughout September and October to gather further feedback ahead of its final technical advice to the European Commission, due by November 30, 2025. Read the draft and amendments here and submit your thoughts via survey.

Meanwhile the European Commission is wrapping up its Call For Evidence feedback period on the matter on September 10. For those with less time or in-depth technical knowledge to review the documents who wish to express their concerns to the EC, the #HandsOfNature Campaign led by environmental groups including the European Environmental Bureau, WWF and BirdLife Europe, and in Ireland, the Irish Environmental Pillar/Irish Environmental Network and Irish Wildlife Trust have a campaign to enable concerned citizens to have their say, including an online tool with sample text you can add to or adjust to state your thoughts on keeping the regulations robust.

Webinar: Introducing the Nature-Based Enterprise

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BFBI is delighted to announce an introductory webinar on new market opportunities in nature-based solutions.

This webinar is organised in collaboration with the Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform which brings together communities of nature-based enterprises, working with and for nature. These businesses are experiencing high market demand as they deliver nature-based solutions which help to address business dependencies and risks from nature loss and climate change. 

Whether you are interested in benefiting from nature-based solutions to climate adaptation, developing new products and services, you are a start-up business in this area, or you will have businesses like these in your supply chain, this webinar provides a good understanding of how your business can participate in the nature positive economy and go nature positive! 

Webinar date: August 20th, 2025
Time: 12-1pm
Via Teams: Register HERE

Our speaker: Isobel Fletcher is CEO of Horizon Nua, a not-for-profit foundation based in Dublin working to accelerate the just transition towards a nature-positive economy and manager of the Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform. An advocate for nature-based entrepreneurship, Isobel leads the team working to co-develop nature-positive entrepreneurial strategies at regional and municipal level through multiple European initiatives to support the delivery of nature-based solutions as part of the just transition to an equitable, carbon neutral and nature-positive economy. Isobel is a member of the EC NbS Task forces on the nature-positive economy and communications. 

 

Assess: How your business interfaces with nature

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BFBI Business Programme Lead Dr Catherine Farrell CIEEM, Trinity College Dublin, writes on the process steps around undertaking a Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) to help guide your nature strategy: this article focuses on the ways to understand how businesses interface with nature, highlighting the data needs but also the language of a DMA.

Following from our inspiring and interactive workshop on March 10th (read about it here), alongside colleagues from Deloitte, the Business for Biodiversity Ireland team led the second of our Action Track workshop series on May 20th. While our initial workshop focused on the key elements of what a Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) is (and/or isn’t), especially the value chain, this time we focused on how we can map and track the interface of business with nature.

This involves homing in on ‘the where’ part of the DMA process. In essence, this means gathering your organisation’s location data like maps, and – in tandem – figuring out the other types of data available, what they measure and why. Then its time to focus on how we might use data (which may be freely available as well as company-held) to inform our DMA. Our colleagues from Deloitte shared their DMA journey, highlighting how tools like the TNFD LEAP (Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare), can help bring understanding of our business interfaces with nature to light.

In this article we focus more on data and the language of data and DMA (beware of the acronyms!):

Data: we hear a lot about data these days, but when we’re trying to understand our business impacts and dependencies (how we rely on nature) we really need to focus on data relating to aspects of nature referenced in the nature-related reporting frameworks like CSRD, TNFD, SBTN and GRI.

We can start by breaking these into –

  • Locational data (a map of where we operate – note, start with one part of your value chain and get the hang of it!)
  • What types of habitats or ecosystems are present in those places (the basic type and their extent)
  • What our impact is on these specific areas of ecosystem (how we influence their condition), and
  • How we rely on them (what we need from these ecosystems as inputs, aka ecosystem services to our operations) or impact them.

This helps us Locate, Evaluate and Assess our impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities, and then Prepare to report (think LEAP). We can do this by using available data on habitats, but -now, a health warning – in Ireland habitat data is quite limited. With some ecological input to help, however, we can gather up what is available, in a useful way.

Language: ecological and nature lingo is nuanced but not beyond our reach. It’s helpful to have someone working with us that can communicate these nuances in a clear, simple way. During our workshop we discovered that acronyms and strange ‘eco’ languages can be off putting initially, but once we get into the flow, we find what we need to know.

Many thanks to Aoife Connaughton and Deloitte for collaborating on this workshop, National Biodiversity Data Centre’s Sarah Kelly, and all our Action Track businesses for participating in our Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme, including CIE and CIE Tours, Cloud Assist, Irish Rail, Irish Trees, Future Energy Ireland, KMK, Scott Cawley Ltd, Shannon Airport, Trinity College Dublin and Watermark Coffee.

Dr Maria Fitzpatrick is our new Business Development Manager

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Business for Biodiversity Ireland is delighted to announce the newest member of our team, Dr Maria Fitzpatrick, who has taken on the role of Business Development Manager, working with Irish businesses to ensure they get the most from their membership of BFBI.

Biodiversity & Sustainability Consultant Maria has a PhD in Freshwater Ecology and worked as an Environmental Consultant before moving to Queen Mary University of London and then on to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to build and head the Research Funding Services for Kew Science.

She is Circular Economy-trained with a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive professional qualification. Her background blends scientific expertise with project and relationship management skills, and a keen understanding of the environmental challenges our world is facing to build compelling cases for change. Maria also sits on the steering committee for Natural Capital Ireland.

Maria shared:

“I am excited to be working with the brilliant team at Business For Biodiversity Ireland to help shape and drive forward our 2025 business development strategy. This will be working to bring businesses on board with our Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme, supporting businesses in the transition to achieving a thriving nature-positive economy here in Ireland and beyond.”

You can contact Maria with queries at manager@businessforbiodiversity.ie

Biodiversity Duty Reporting Guidance for Public Bodies

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Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, has launched the Biodiversity Duty Reporting Guidance for Public Bodies, developed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service with support from Business for Biodiversity Ireland.

The guidance provides practical steps to help public bodies fulfil their ‘biodiversity duty’ – a new legal requirement for public and state bodies to consider biodiversity in their decision making and daily operations.  The guidance will also assist public bodies in fulfilling their biodiversity reporting obligations.

Launching the guidance documents to be issued to all listed public bodies, Minister O’Sullivan, pictured right, above with the BFBI team, said: “All of us have a role to play in protecting our biodiversity, and that includes our public and state bodies. Many of them, including ESB and Iarnród Éireann, are already leading by example and can see the benefits – for biodiversity, for the public and their own organisations.

“This guidance will help even more of our public bodies to make a commitment to biodiversity. It suggests areas of business activities within public bodies, from procurement, to construction, landscape management and organisational development, which can have a real impact on our biodiversity. It will also support public and state bodies to report on their progress over the coming months as required by the legislation.”

Biodiversity Duty Reporting Guidance for Public Bodies provides actionable steps and tools for public bodies to embed biodiversity considerations into their operations. It indicates areas of opportunity within public bodies where biodiversity can be incorporated, and sets out how biodiversity duty can be strengthened through clear targets, knowledge and skills development, collaboration and implementation.

The ESB is a member of the Business for Biodiversity Ireland platform, and has been working to develop a Nature Strategy in response to the recognised growing need for business guidance in transitioning to a nature-positive way of working.

Geoff Hamilton, Biodiversity Lead at ESB, pictured left, above, said: “Biodiversity action is a core part of ESB’s ambition to make a difference for planet, place and people; we aim to be nature-positive by 2030. In 2024, ESB appointed a Group Head of Sustainability, who has completed the establishment of a new Centre of Sustainability – including the creation of a new role of Group Biodiversity Lead, tasked with driving biodiversity action and transformation across ESB’s business units.

“We have recently published the ESB Networks Biodiversity Strategy ‘Networks for Nature’ and are currently in the process of developing similar strategies for other constituent business units of ESB. ESB wholeheartedly welcomes this new guidance document, which provides clear directions with regard to our annual reporting duty.”

Read more on the government website HERE and access the guidance document HERE.

 

Pictured, L-R: Geoff Hamilton, Biodiversity Lead, ESB; Fiona Smith, Communications, BFBI; Dr Emer Ní Dhúill, Research at BFBI; Iseult Sheehy, Operations, BFBI; Sinead Kilkelly, Executive Director, People & Sustainability, ESB; Dr Maria FitzPatrick, BFBI Business Development Manager; and Minister for Nature Christopher O’Sullivan TD.

BFBI nominated for Business & Finance ESG Awards 2025

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Business For Biodiversity Ireland is delighted to be named as a finalist in the Business & Finance Media Group ESG Awards 2025 – in association with Grant Thornton Ireland – in the ‘Biodiversity Leadership in Business Award’ category.

The awards recognise the efforts of companies in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices, and celebrate those driving change through innovative policies, technology solutions, and sustainable business practices.

Congratulations also to our fellow nominees Wildacres, Biodiversity In Schools, Coillte and Dublin Port Company and to all the nominees across categories including An Post, Dublin Port Company, Bord Gáis Energy and Aldi.

The ESG Leader Award will be presented to Mary Robinson, recognising her dedication to sustainability, climate justice, and social equity on both a national and global scale.

Tracey Carney, Managing Director, Business & Finance, said: “The calibre of entries for the 2025 Business & Finance ESG Awards reflects the remarkable strides taken by organisations across Ireland in integrating sustainability at the core of their business strategies.

“We are seeing a significant shift towards collective responsibility, where entire teams are driving change and delivering measurable ESG impact.”

The winners will be announced in a ceremony on April 10 in The Mansion House, Dublin.

Read more on the Business & Finance site.
Read more on RTE News.

Dr Catherine Farrell is our Business Programme Lead

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Business For Biodiversity Ireland is delighted to announce that Dr Catherine Farrell is moving over from our Board of Directors to take on the role of Business Programme Lead.

A pioneer of ecological restoration and research in Ireland and internationally, having developed Ireland’s first Biodiversity Action Plan for a corporate body (Bord na Móna), Catherine is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences and Adjunct Teaching Fellow in Trinity Business School at Trinity College Dublin.

Catherine developed a new TCD module for 2024-2025, The Business of Nature Positive, which incorporates learnings about nature, society and economy, exploring ways for undergraduate students to work with businesses in Ireland to support the global Nature Positive Initiative, and report through the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

Catherine worked on the EPA-funded research project INCASE, applying the UN SEEA Ecosystem Accounting framework at catchment scale in Ireland up to 2022, and her current research as part of BiOrbic National Bioeconomy Research Centre focuses on developing mechanisms to structure, finance, monitor and communicate the direct impacts and broader societal benefits of nature restoration (Project ReFarm).  She was lead organiser of the Peatlands Gathering 2021, and is also a member of the ongoing National Land Use Review process.

Read more on our Meet the Team page.

 

What’s the Business Outlook for Nature in 2025?

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2024 was an eventful year for those of us working in advancing nature action at both national and global level.

The much-contested  EU Nature Restoration Law  was brought in – and the Green Party, which was in Government at the time, with Ireland’s first Minister for Nature Malcolm Noonan, were instrumental in getting it over the line. However, there remains political pushback at home and abroad as we enter 2025 and environmental concerns slip further down the agenda in the face of the cost-of-living crisis, political turmoil and global conflict. 

Extreme weather incidents are putting these concerns squarely back on the agenda for the private sector as we start 2025, particularly in the area of insurance and financial investments. Fears are being raised in the food sector due to the climate and nature crises, and we will likely see tourism, hospitality and retail affected globally, as well as a rise in public health concerns. The latest  WEF Global Risks Report  rates several environment-related risks in prominent positions in their Top 10 for a 10-year analysis, with the risk from biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse ranked in second place, after extreme weather events. The short-term (2 years) risk analysis ranks extreme weather events in second place, however, the risk from biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is not as prominent yet on the short-term list of worries for polled business leaders. This is surprising given that it is now widely understood that biodiverse ecosystems create resilient landscapes and enhance carbon sequestration, lessening the effects of climate change such as extreme weather events. (The Economics of Biodiversity aka the Dasgupta Review, for the UK Treasury in 2021, warns we must start accounting for nature’s contributions in national accounts to inform decision-making for future resilience).

We welcome the announcement of a new Minister of State for Nature, Heritage & Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and hope concrete and swift action on nature loss and degradation will be set in motion once Ireland’s National Restoration Plan, being developed by the  National Parks & Wildlife Service  in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, is finalised. The new  Programme for Government  pledges to keep the Infrastructure, Nature & Climate Fund, instigated by the previous government, with plans to pursue more funding at EU level, and delivery of Ireland’s  National Biodiversity Action Plan 2023-2030,  which sees a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach. We look forward to continuing to work with a number of government departments in developing and implementing actions to support businesses in achieving this. 

Despite an uneven progress following successive global summits on climate and nature, BFBI agrees with recent commentary by Business for Nature’s CEO Eva Zabey that interest levels and discussions on biodiversity within the business and policy world are certainly “maturing and multiplying”. “Tackling complex issues such as biodiversity loss and its interconnections with climate and social equity takes time, where global discussions remain key, even if they don’t always result in the urgent progress we are collectively striving for.

“This requires all of us to act with both urgency and perseverance. We take heart in the progress made over the past 12 months by our fantastic community and partners, and by the growing number of businesses and policymakers committed to building a nature-positive future for all by 2030.”

Zabey lists some key highlights from the past year, including the introduction of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in effect for 11,000 companies in 2025.

“Over 500 companies have committed to disclosing their nature-related issues to investors using the TNFD recommendations – a 57% increase since the beginning of the year, 30 companies have published dedicated nature strategies through It’s Now for Nature and first mover companies publicly adopted science-based targets for nature. These are encouraging signals of change.”

However voluntary action by businesses is far from the norm, and many organisations still do not understand their impacts and dependencies on nature. There is confusion among Irish companies on the scope of the new reporting rules, with a number of our larger legal firms seeking clarification from the Government on how the legislation is to be applied in Ireland.

It is essential that the new Government and the business sector show leadership in making this the year to accelerate our transition to Nature Positive rather than risk playing catch-up – if you are new to it all, start here on our free Discovery Track with access to the evolving guidance and resources coming your way in 2025, including our free webinar series.

Those keen to make the commitment to put prior learning and resources into action now can join our Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme’s paid Action Track for tailored help to get your reporting on track, and be ready to make real positive impact for your business and for nature. We’ll help you to advance to our Strategy Track and Evolution Track, through our Roadmap to Nature Positive (in alignment with the global Now for Nature Strategy), to maintain a steady path to long-term sustainability.

Get on track HERE.

 

Our next members webinar is coming up this November

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On November 14, we’ll host a Lunch and Learn webinar to get recent and joining members up to speed on how and where your business interacts with nature and biodiversity.

  • What risks are businesses facing in this nature crisis?
  • How do we address these risks?
  • How can the nature-positive approach bring opportunities to your business?
  • How can we comply with the CSRD?

Join Lucy Gaffney and our team for this Business & Biodiversity 101 session – sign up to get on the Discovery Track, a free first step to the BFBI Nature Strategy Accelerator Programme – all Business For Biodiversity Ireland members can register for the webinar once logged into the Members Section of our website.

Broaden your understanding of your business relationship with nature and get to grips with where to start on credible nature action and legislative compliance for your organisation.

Log in to register HERE.

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