The Nature of Business: Corporate influence over the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Biodiversity Framework

The document asserts that big business, a primary driver of biodiversity loss, has significantly increased its influence over the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). It details how corporations use 'green-sounding' coalitions, revolving doors, and the infiltration of national delegations to promote ineffective, market-based solutions like 'Nature-Based Solutions' and 'Nature Positive' while avoiding regulation. The report highlights specific cases of biotech industry influence and the role of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which includes companies with poor environmental records. It concludes that corporate capture prevents the transformative change needed to stop species extinction and recommends strict limits on business participation in UN negotiations, including a ban on business representatives in national delegations and the end of corporate partnerships.

• Corporations employ a wide array of tactics to influence the CBD, including direct lobbying, installing contacts within the CBD Secretariat, using revolving doors, and forming purpose-built lobby groupings that present themselves as sustainable coalitions.
• Corporate-led 'solutions' such as offsetting, self-reporting, and concepts like 'Nature Positive' and 'Nature-Based Solutions' are designed to avoid undermining existing business models and do not effectively benefit the environment.
• The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) promotes a proactive environmental discourse while its membership includes companies responsible for significant ecological damage, such as Vale's mine tailings collapses in Brazil and BP's Deepwater Horizon spill.
• The biotech industry has influenced the CBD by infiltrating national delegations; for instance, at COP14 in Sharm-el-Sheik, at least six African delegations included members sponsored by Target Malaria or ISAAA.
• Certain international conservation organisations, including IUCN, WWF, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Resources Institute, have strong links to corporations through funding and board memberships, which helps obscure corporate interests.
• The draft Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) shows evidence of corporate lobbying through its emphasis on voluntary action, market mechanisms, and weak monitoring and accountability.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2022). The Nature of Business: Corporate influence over the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Biodiversity Framework. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1-13-FoEI-CBD-nature-of-business-exec-ENG-rmr.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. The Nature of Business: Corporate influence over the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Biodiversity Framework. 2022. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1-13-FoEI-CBD-nature-of-business-exec-ENG-rmr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=The Nature of Business: Corporate influence over the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Biodiversity Framework |date=December 2022 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1-13-FoEI-CBD-nature-of-business-exec-ENG-rmr.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2022nature, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{The Nature of Business: Corporate influence over the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Biodiversity Framework}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1-13-FoEI-CBD-nature-of-business-exec-ENG-rmr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }