(11 March 2025 – Global) More than 140 countries have assented to a strategy to raise and distribute US$200 billion annually by 2030 to protect nature as ISS ESG warns about rising greenwashing risk as “nature positive” terminology gains traction.
While a decision on a dedicated nature fund was postponed until 2028, delegates set a framework to support conservation through 2030 seeking to halt biodiversity loss and protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and seas after the agreement was reached at the UN COP16 summit in Rome.
“It is important to emphasise the importance of multilateralism in achieving these goals despite geopolitical challenges” stated outgoing COP16 President Susana Muhamad.
ISS ESG has warned lack of clarity over the term “nature positive” infers the market needs to closely monitor for greenwashing, Environmental Finance reports.
“There is no widespread agreement on what constitutes as a nature-positive activity. While it is broadly accepted that it means something which is ‘net positive’ for the environment, some activities can often have a positive impact on one area of nature while hurting another” stated ISS ESG VP of Biodiversity and Nature, Giorgio Cozzolini.
“In the climate space, it’s now quite easy to map green versus brown economic activities or positive versus negative climate outcomes, providing a way for investors to get into this space. Until there is the same clarity on nature, it’s going to be difficult to create a big cauldron of economic activities that are deemed as “good”. Without this clarity on activities, there is a potential for greenwashing and a risk of actually getting involved in the space” Cozzolini added.