The world’s largest companies increasingly recognize the risks and opportunities presented by nature and natural capital.1 This awareness is driving more businesses to set specific targets to address their impact on water, biodiversity, forests, and other dimensions of nature.
The unprecedented decline of nature and biodiversity underscores the urgency of these commitments. Of the nine planetary boundaries proposed by scientists in 2009 to define a “safe operating space for humanity,”2 including land system change and biosphere integrity, six have been exceeded as of 2023. This implies significant risks for people and the planet.3
Since 2022, we have analyzed sustainability reporting by Fortune Global 500 companies to understand the extent to which companies consider nature in their environmental, social, and governance strategies.4 Building on last year’s analysis,5 we find, generally, that companies’ nature-related commitments have broadened. While climate change has been at the forefront of corporate sustainability efforts over the past decade, it is increasingly clear that there is no path to net zero without considering other dimensions of nature. This increased attention to nature comes amid growing momentum to protect natural capital through international agreements, pressure from some investors, and voluntary initiatives and collaborations. For example, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), ratified in December 2022, established an international mandate to protect and restore biodiversity, including 23 actionable targets for 2030. Additionally, organizations such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and the Science Based Targets Network are developing frameworks for companies to assess, disclose, and act on their impacts and dependencies on nature.
Our survey reveals an overall increase in pledges made across five of the six dimensions of nature that we analyzed—including water, chemicals and plastics, biodiversity, forests, and nutrients or nitrogen oxides (NOx).6 This suggests that companies are continuing to strengthen and evolve their commitments to nature.
A growing number of companies are committing to dimensions of nature beyond carbon
Compared with 2023, the share of Fortune Global 500 companies that either set firm targets for preserving or restoring nature or acknowledged nature’s importance as part of their business strategy increased across all dimensions except carbon (Exhibit 1). The number of companies with targets in chemicals and plastics, biodiversity, and forests increased, while the number of companies with targets in carbon, water, and nutrients or NOx decreased slightly from last year (see sidebar, “Our methodology”). At the same time, for each of the dimensions of nature other than carbon, the proportion of companies that recognized their importance increased significantly—although carbon remains the dimension with the highest share of overall commitments at 94 percent.
Among the six dimensions of nature, biodiversity saw the largest increase in the share of companies setting targets compared with last year, reflecting increased attention to biodiversity following the adoption of the GBF in 2022. Global companies such as Starbucks and Mitsubishi have recognized the importance of biodiversity by adopting GBF targets in their commitments.
The share of companies setting targets in chemicals and plastics increased from 22 to 28 percent, while those setting targets in biodiversity increased from 6 to 12 percent; these represent the largest percentage-point increases among the dimensions studied compared with last year. Chemicals and plastics also experienced a significant increase in company commitments since 2022, when we first began tracking this data. Progress on plastic pollution may have accelerated over the past year because of policies such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation for packaging, which assigns companies responsibility for their products’ end-of-life management. While EPR legislation was introduced in Europe in the early 1990s, it has gained traction in the United States more recently, with five states passing EPR legislation for packaging and ten additional states introducing similar legislation this year. Around the world, major companies have aligned with local EPR regulations to enhance recycling and disposal efforts for end-of-life vehicles, also.
Net zero and carbon neutrality remain common commitments among companies. More than 30 percent of the 2024 carbon targets focus on net-zero emissions. In May 2024, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce launched the Symbiosis Coalition, committing to 20 million metric tons of high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030.7 The percentage of companies with carbon commitments did not change materially between 2023 and 2024. Target setting related to forests and to nutrients or NOx emission reduction continues to be low, with only 15 percent and 4 percent, respectively, of companies setting targets.
As in previous years, the specificity and scope of the targets vary significantly from company to company. For example, in biodiversity, targets range from “help protect, more sustainably manage, or restore at least 50 million acres of land and one million square miles of ocean by 2030” to “halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.” This variability highlights an opportunity for companies to adopt existing standards as a starting point for more specific, quantifiable targets, but it also highlights the opportunity to develop new approaches to measure progress against those targets.
Companies are expanding prior, noncarbon commitments to nature to include additional dimensions
The share of companies with three or more nature-related targets rose to 26 percent in 2024, up from 16 percent when we first began tracking in 2022 (Exhibit 2). While the share of companies without commitments to nature hasn’t changed much, companies that set targets in the past appear to be extending and evolving their commitments to encompass additional dimensions of nature.
Companies that make commitments beyond carbon tend to adopt a more holistic set of targets. While 46 percent of companies’ commitments start and end at carbon, 74 percent of companies with commitments in any other category also have commitments in two or more additional dimensions (Exhibit 3).
There is still variation across sectors in the share of companies setting targets, with manufacturing leading the way
The manufacturing sector continues to have the greatest share of companies with three or more nature-related targets. However, two other sectors—construction and buildings and retail sales and services—demonstrated the greatest growth in that category, with increases of more than ten percentage points and nearly six percentage points, respectively (Exhibit 4). The share of construction and buildings companies with no targets remains the highest among sectors, at 52 percent, up two percentage points from last year. This indicates that progress within this sector is concentrated among companies with existing nature-related targets, rather than companies setting targets for the first time.
Transport and trade saw a 3.9 percentage-point decrease compared with last year in the share of companies with three or more targets, whereas manufacturing, which includes automotive manufacturing, biopharma and healthcare technology, food and beverage manufacturing, and electronics, demonstrated a 4.8 percentage-point increase compared with 2023.
Latin American companies have the highest share of businesses setting three or more targets, while Europe continues to lead in target setting overall
All regions except Asia experienced significant increases from last year in the share of companies making three or more nature-related commitments (Exhibit 5). Latin America experienced the largest rise, with the number of companies increasing from four out of 14 studied companies last year to eight this year. This trend is consistent with Latin American countries’ recent commitments to protecting nature. For example, 22 countries in the region, including Belize, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama, have joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People’s 30x30 initiative, which is aligned with the goals of the GBF and calls for the protection of at least 30 percent of the world’s terrestrial and marine areas by 2030. Latin America relies significantly on natural-asset-related tourism, particularly in the Caribbean, where endangered coral reefs and shrinking coastlines underscore the urgent need to halt nature loss.
Corporations are taking notice of this regional trend. For example, one large Latin American company has pledged a 30 percent increase in biodiversity conservation efforts, aiming to achieve biodiversity gains by 2030. Even beyond Latin America, companies are using commitments to 30x30 to shape their environmental goals. Australia’s BHP, for instance, committed to creating nature-positive outcomes by ensuring that at least 30 percent of the land and water it stewards is under conservation, restoration, or regenerative practices by the end of fiscal year 2023.8 Other global companies, such as Crédit Mutuel and Bunge, have highlighted EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) as a key consideration in their deforestation-free commitments.9
Europe remains the region with the largest share of companies with at least one target, driven by recent nature-focused policies such as the EUDR, the EU Nature Restoration Law, and by the European Union’s continued focus on reducing carbon emissions through mechanisms such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Companies are increasingly referencing the EUDR in their commitments to halting deforestation. For example, Tesco is “preparing to comply with the EUDR across relevant categories and products” as well as with UK legislation as part of its commitment to sourcing commodities such as soy and palm oil only from verified zero-deforestation and conversion-free areas by December 2025.10
Corporate nature action is gaining momentum, but there is still a long way to go
Our 2022 Nature in the Balance report outlines sector-level actions that companies can take to restore natural capital, finding that almost half of the estimated abatement potential could have a positive return on investment—an annual opportunity of $700 billion.11
Increasing collective actions by companies underscore the private sector’s deepening commitment to nature while also highlighting the need for innovation and focus across all dimensions of natural resources. As the momentum builds around nature and natural capital, corporate leaders have the opportunity to play a central role in bringing businesses back within the safe operating space for humanity.
To further these efforts, we are collaborating with the World Economic Forum to convene global CEOs to lead business initiatives for a nature-positive future, beginning with our recently launched report, Spotlight on nature: Case studies for business transformation towards a nature-positive future.
