Companies that have spent recent years learning to measure and cut their emissions may hold more tools than they realise for the next big challenge: biodiversity. That is the idea behind From Carbon to Nature, a research project by the Ecodynamics Group at the University of Siena in partnership with BiodiversitARB, ARB SB’s initiative for integrating nature into business strategy. The project’s business survey will be presented on 4 November 2026 at Ecomondo.
COP17: plenty of pledges, too little delivery
From 19 to 30 October, Yerevan hosted COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the first global review of progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in 2022. The picture was mixed: nearly 90% of Parties had set national targets, but fewer than half of those assessed were on track.
The conference called for faster implementation, including action on the economic and financial drivers of biodiversity loss. Within the Framework, Target 15 asks governments to ensure businesses – especially large companies, multinationals and financial institutions – assess and disclose their nature-related impacts, dependencies and risks.
A two-way relationship with nature
Businesses put pressure on ecosystems, yet they also rely on the services those ecosystems provide. Understanding that relationship is the first step towards bringing biodiversity into strategy and decision-making.
Why biodiversity isn’t CO₂
Carbon accounting spread quickly partly thanks to a shared metric, CO₂ equivalent, which lets different gases be compared by their warming effect. Biodiversity offers no such shortcut: there is no single indicator, because the effects of an activity depend on where it happens and on the ecology of the area.
Two plants with similar emissions can affect ecosystems very differently depending on land use, resource consumption and the sensitivity of nearby habitats. Biodiversity accounting therefore needs territorial and ecological data, including across value chains.
What can be carried over from climate work
Different doesn’t mean starting from zero. Governance structures, data collection systems and risk management processes built for climate could serve as a foundation for nature too. The open question is which capabilities can be reused as they are, which need adapting and which must be built from scratch.
The From Carbon to Nature survey targets Italian companies of all sectors and sizes, aiming to identify what helps or hinders adoption – from awareness of their links with ecosystems to using biodiversity data in procurement, investment and supplier management. The results will feed into follow-up qualitative research on companies’ experiences.
From webinar to Ecomondo
These themes were previewed in the webinar “From Carbon to Nature. Knowing to Decide Better”, held by ARB SB on 28 October with Silvia Scarian Monsorno, Maxim Kudriashov and Anna Candiotto (BiodiversitARB), Prof. Federico Maria Pulselli and Dr Lorenzo Mencherini (University of Siena).
The next step is on 4 November 2026, 2:00–3:30 pm, Sala Abete (Hall A7) at Ecomondo, during a seminar hosted by ICEA, ARB SB and Coo’ee Italia on credible environmental claims for businesses and supply chains under the EmpCo Directive. Interested companies can already fill in the survey and contribute to the research.