It’s net zero, naturally

We increasingly hear that there is ‘no net zero without nature’. Lucy Rees, UKGBC’s Head of Insights and Innovation, reflects on how ‘nature positive’ actions can integrate into built environment climate action.

This month marks the third anniversary of the Race to Zero campaign, with UKGBC having supported the initiative as an Accelerator for over two years. The Race champions a transition that looks beyond net zero to embrace the interconnected needs of people and nature, and catalyses leadership to activate an ‘ambition loop’ of government action and systemic change. As the Climate Champions Team, Race to Zero and Partners host “The Race is On: Net Zero & Nature Positive for Climate Action” today as part of London Climate Action week, we reflect on this theme, and take inspiration from UKGBC members working to halve global emissions, reverse biodiversity loss, and restore nature.

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of viewing – and taking action to address – the climate and ecological crises through the same lens.

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of viewing – and taking action to address – the climate and ecological crises through the same lens. Nature provides both climate resilience and at least a third of the emissions mitigation and removal opportunity required to achieve a 1.5°C pathway (UNFCCC), and so its restoration is an increasing priority. With growing acknowledgement that there is no net zero without action to address the loss of nature, industry is racing to create mechanisms that help us respond. The establishment of a global treaty to halt and reverse nature loss, the launch of the first science-based targets for nature, and an upcoming global framework to measure and disclose nature-related risk to cite but a few.

‘Nature positive’ has begun to slip into everyday discourse and, in the footsteps of ‘net zero’, has quickly become plagued by concern over opening-up yet another frontier for greenwashing. But, if we take reversing biodiversity loss and supporting nature restoration and recovery as our foundation, how are we seeing climate action that safeguards our natural world being realised across the built environment? Taking inspiration from UKGBC member Race to Zero signatories across the value chain – highlighted below – some common themes emerge:

Circularity and regeneration

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the third principle of a circular economy is to regenerate nature. A circular economy supports natural processes, leaves more room for nature to thrive, and builds natural capital. “If we eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature, biodiversity can thrive.” Forward-thinking companies are embracing a paradigm shift – moving away from simply ‘doing less harm’ (emitting less, extracting less…), towards having a net positive impact that actively restores natural processes and resources, drawing down emissions. The north star goal being a regenerative state in which human and natural systems not only co-exist in harmony, but also co-evolve.

Co-benefits of nature-inspired solutions

For over 3.8 billion years, life has adapted and evolved to changing planetary conditions. Biomimetic  and biophilic design (note the difference explained here) allow us to learn and benefit from the best that nature has to offer. Stakeholders across the built environment are also increasingly deploying Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and seeking to harness ‘Nature Tech’ to scale- and speed-up nature’s ability to combat climate change. These represent tangible design solutions that bring a myriad of intersectional benefits not only for nature, but also for climate resilience and societal health and wellbeing.

We will only discover and deploy exponential solutions to the climate and ecological crises if we move from competitive to cooperative leadership; breaking down silos and learning from each other’s successes and failures.

Collaboration

We will only discover and deploy exponential solutions to the climate and ecological crises if we move from competitive to cooperative leadership; breaking down silos and learning from each other’s successes and failures. Over the past year, UKGBC has been bringing together organisations across the value chain to do just this, as they take action towards net zero, at our inaugural series of Collaboration Café events – we’ve captured some of the insights here.

Financing and investment

Nature is not only significantly underfinanced, but also still feeling the brunt of nature-negative flows of public and private capital. The UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2022 report concluded that – to appropriately tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation – global investments into NbS need to more than double each year by 2025. Governments currently provide the vast majority of investment and should seek not only to increase this, but also to create an enabling environment to catalyse private finance flows. Businesses and other private sector stakeholders, for their part, need to ensure they invest in nature as they transition towards net zero – harnessing the ‘triple win’ power of NbS to mitigate and draw down emissions, restore degraded ecosystems and reverse biodiversity loss.

Policy and advocacy

The Race to Zero introduced its fifth criteria – “Persuade” – and launched the Pivot Point report last year, highlighting the key role non-state actors play in spearheading climate policy. Often referred to as the ‘ambition loop’, businesses have a key role to play in demonstrating to government both the possibility and demand for regulation. Lobbying government and engaging in public policy can therefore form just as vital a part of corporate responsibility as the setting of ambitious targets. Advocating for planning reform is particularly vital to deliver the certainty and clear rules our industry needs to support green investment, nature’s recovery, and climate action – as called for recently by UKGBC and its members.

To reach an equitable, net zero, and nature positive future, the next few years need to be a turning point where global momentum to tackle nature issues grows from words, to targets, to actions – in design, investment and policy. How does your organisation depend on and impact nature, and what can you do to contribute to a nature-positive future?

Discover what some UKGBC members are doing to play their part, and our resources and upcoming activities that can support your journey, below.

John Lewis Partnership

“Our Plan for Nature”

  • Investing £2 million in ecosystem protection and regeneration projects, and funding sustainable water management programmes in three key sourcing areas.
  • Zero deforestation in the sourcing of key commodities.
  • Incorporating natural elements and design principles into key new build and renovation projects. All new-build projects target minimum 10% Biodiversity Net Gain.
  • All new own-brand products will meet circular design principles from 2028.
  • Partnering with WWF to fund ecosystem regeneration projects, sharing insights gained with the Science Based Targets Network, suppliers and policy-makers.
  • Supporting the launch of science-based targets for nature, aiming to be amongst the first to set their own targets.

HOK

Regenerative Design Approach

  • Leveraging integrated design and whole systems thinking to restore and regenerate the natural world and bring together the needs of people and nature.
  • Employing nature-based performance modelling to benchmark and forecast environmental, economic and social impacts of projects. Aiming for positive performance and designs that emulate, and even surpass, the performance metrics of thriving ecosystems.
  • Embracing bioinspired innovation through the complementary use of biomimicry and biophilic design solutions that support people’s connection to nature. E.g. incorporating natural materials, light, sound, vegetation, outdoor views and other experiences of nature inside a building.

Canary Wharf Group

Partnership with the Eden Project

  • The Eden Project has partnered with CWG on the creation of a new ‘green spine’ through the centre of Canary Wharf.
  • Including the creation of additional green public realm, parks and gardens, waterside access, performance spaces, bridges, boardwalks and floating pontoons. This will animate the docks with new spaces for arts and culture, and for water sports.
  • To support the estate in becoming a global example of best practice and innovation on biodiversity in a dense urban environment, where people live and work in harmony with nature. A blueprint for global cities to act on biodiversity loss.
  • Supporting the delivery of CWG’s broader Biodiversity Action Plan.

JLL

Science Based Targets Network Corporate Engagement Program

  • JLL globally has joined the Science Based Targets NetworkCorporate Engagement Program.
  • In the UK, a corporate nature strategy has been developed following an assessment of JLL’s material impacts and dependencies on nature.
  • The UK Corporate roadmap to support a just transition to net-zero, nature-positive, resilient future includes:
    • Equipping advisory teams across the business with skills and knowledge to enable clients to develop and deliver nature-related solutions alongside wider sustainability solutions across real estate portfolios.
    • Strategically embedding nature into the fit out of JLL’s UK offices to identify and assess impacts, with a view to establish a blueprint for nature and biodiversity.
    • Introducing processes to reduce negative impacts on nature across corporate operations, from water use to procurement.

Grosvenor

Valuing Nature

  • Nature-positive enhancements across the UK property portfolio, including consideration of the emergent concept of Environmental Net Gain.
  • Targeting a 20% biodiversity increase in managed green spaces and 100% in new developments by 2030, exceeding regulatory requirements.
  • “Biodiversity Buffet” provides guidance on delivering net gains in practice, detailing a range of Green Infrastructure/NbS with accompanying design guidance for new development and retrofit.
  • Biodiversity uplift used as a key business performance indicator, directly impacting performance reviews and remuneration.
  • Partnering on Wild West End, ensuring investment and action plans that support central London’s biodiversity and provide connections to nature for residents, workers and visitors.
  • Working with suppliers and tenants to access data on their impact on nature, and ensure fit-out guides include Green Infrastructure from late 2023.
  • Publishing progress from 2024 alongside learnings and case studies, and exploring how data could be used towards TNFD disclosure.

Interface

Factory as a Forest

  • Vision to create a “Factory as a Forest” to support a regenerative business model and meet business targets, whilst contributing to the well-being of the landscape and local community.
  • Mimicking the operations and processes of a high-performing ecosystem to create a replicable roadmap for how factories can operate, starting with establishing aspirational performance targets for a factory in LaGrange, Georgia.
  • Working with Biomimicry 3.8 and employing a ‘place-based’ approach towards regenerative design:
  1. Identify a local high-performing ecosystem.
  2. Quantify its performance.
  3. Develop performance metrics for the facility and perform a gap analysis.
  4. Create design and operational strategies that align with overall business objectives and employee needs.
  5. Implement and measure success.
  • Initial actions include planting native trees and grasses to absorb water, sequester carbon, and reduce cooling load, as well as closing the evapotranspiration gap by sending water back into the atmosphere via water features.
  • Collaborating with industry peers in the Project Positive group – demonstrating the impact of implementing NbS and showcasing learnings with wider industry.

BAM UK & Ireland

Nature Positive Business Pledge

  • Founding signatory of the Nature Positive Business Pledge, a framework supporting businesses to act on biodiversity loss and contribute towards nature restoration.
  • Core principles centre around applying the mitigation hierarchy to all facets of the business, generating long-term benefits for nature, seeking to achieve net gain or net positive outcomes, and assuming a worst case impact on nature scenario where there is lack of evidence or information.
  • The framework requires the development of a Nature Positive Plan, including:
  1. Undertaking a materiality assessment to identify where and how the organisation depends on and impacts nature.
  2. Identifying a nature baseline and assessing impact on nature relative to this baseline.
  3. Setting SMART and costed targets to address the business dependencies and impacts on nature.
  • Annually assess and report progress.

Aviva Investors

Natural Capital Transition Global Equity Fund

  • Targets opportunities aligned to the principles of the UN SDGs that support and benefit from the transition to a nature-positive economy.
  • Investing in companies transitioning their business models towards a nature-positive economy, rather than just those looking to reduce their impact on nature.
  • Engaging with the entire portfolio on specific biodiversity issues via a three-year programme tracking companies from leaders to laggards, with an escalation pathway that could lead to divestment if satisfactory progress is not demonstrated.
  • Actively engaging with policymakers, with specific market reform initiatives that can help deliver nature-positive outcomes.

Related

Working Together to go Beyond Tackling Carbon

Last month UKGBC held the first of our Collaboration Cafés, and we wanted to share the highlights of this successful event, and how we think this can become the go-to gathering for accelerating the best practices within the built environment sector. 
14 Oct, 2022
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