Why has this guidance been created?
Environmental factors have traditionally been part of sustainable corporate reporting, but there is growing awareness of the broader impacts businesses have on nature as well as the impacts that nature can have on businesses.
This shift is driven by:
• Accelerating nature degradation, biodiversity loss, and the alarming reality of the sixth mass extinction, which is now threatening human reliance on ecosystem services.
• Campaigns by civil society, including consumer boycotts that have raised attention to nature issues, such as linking palm oil use to orangutan habitat destruction.
• The development of international agreements like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, where close to 200 nations committed to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.
• The development of frameworks and standards to target nature protection and restoration for businesses. • Regulatory changes by governments to better understand business impacts, dependencies, and the associated risks and opportunities related to nature.
• Extreme weather events and other changes to ecosystem services (e.g,. freshwater availability) that can affect businesses, such as through supply chain disruptions.
As these issues gain attention on the global stage, companies have a unique opportunity to respond by enhancing and restoring nature, demonstrating their responsibility and leadership.
This guidance addresses both the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of nature assessments for mobile operators. It explains the reasoning behind taking action and offers practical recommendations for initiating and integrating a corporate nature strategy. The authors aimed to simplify the complex topic of nature assessment, making it as accessible and actionable as possible, while balancing clear, prescriptive steps with the flexibility to accommodate companies with different levels of experience and ambition in this area.
The full guidance at: https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/external-affairs/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Biodiversity-Report.pdf
