Bridging the science-business gap: from biodiversity measurement to action

Jeannine Cavender-Bares , Gonzalo Giribet, Andrew Davies, Mark Tracy, Sarah Davis, Stephen Polasky

Biodiversity is the living fabric of our planet, and its loss poses growing risks to human well-being, ecological resilience, and business profitability. Yet businesses often lack the information and incentives to align decisions with nature stewardship. We argue that several conditions are essential to sustain biodiversity and a habitable planet. First, monitoring multiple components of biodiversity at scale is critical to understand ecosystem condition and change. Because nature is complex, monitoring requires multiple ecosystem-specific measures across levels of biological organization supported by established methods and emerging technologies that enable scaling. Second, we need to close the gap in translation between scientific measurements and information that businesses, governments, investors, and consumers can use to understand the dependencies and impacts of their activities. Case studies demonstrate how biodiversity monitoring contributes to supporting conservation mechanisms, ecosystem service benefits, and local livelihoods when linked to transparent governance and benefit-sharing. Third, information alone is insufficient where profits remain disconnected from biodiversity loss. Technological advances that enable biodiversity monitoring at large spatial extents will only contribute to biodiversity conservation under a nature-positive business environment. Regulation and public pressure stemming from relational and intrinsic values of nature are thus needed when business incentives conflict with conservation. Incentives for sustaining nature need to be incorporated into businesses and institutions that reward stewardship, protect ecosystems, and equitably benefit Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Aligning business with biodiversity requires locally-relevant, scalable monitoring coupled with policy, finance and governance that enforce stewardship of Earth’s life-support systems.