Nature Positive: Guidelines for the Transition in Cities

The report argues that urban centers, which generate 80% of global GDP, are primary drivers of nature loss and face significant economic risks, with $31 trillion in urban GDP vulnerable to disruption. It proposes a three-step transition journey for cities: committing to nature action, developing a science-based nature strategy, and implementing and reporting on specific actions. The document details an 'AR3T' framework (avoid, reduce, restore and regenerate, and transform) and identifies six essential enablers for success: governance, policy and regulations, financing, data and analytics, stakeholder engagement, and capabilities. It provides specific examples of urban nature targets from cities like London, Paris, and Singapore, and suggests a maturity model for assessing a city's readiness to implement nature-positive initiatives.

• Urban centers are critical to the global economy but are also major contributors to nature loss; approximately 44% of global GDP generated in cities, totaling $31 trillion, is at risk of disruption due to biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.
• Despite the economic risks, there is a lack of dedicated nature strategies in major cities, with only 37% of the world's 500 most populous cities having a strategy focused on biodiversity or nature preservation.
• The report proposes a three-step journey for cities to achieve a nature-positive transition: first, committing to leave nature in a better state; second, translating that commitment into formal objectives and science-based targets within a nature strategy; and third, implementing and monitoring these actions.
• The 'AR3T' framework is recommended for cities to categorize their nature-positive efforts across four levels: avoid (preventing impacts), reduce (minimizing impacts), restore and regenerate (recovering the state of nature), and transform (contributing to system-wide change).
• A successful nature-positive transition requires the development of six key enablers: governance, policy and regulations, financing, data and analytics, stakeholder engagement, and capabilities.
• The report highlights a gap in nature-related target setting compared to climate targets; while 66% of the world's 500 largest companies have set carbon-emissions targets, only 1.6% of US S&P 500 companies have committed to biodiversity no net loss or net positive targets.
• Cities can implement specific nature-positive targets, such as London's goal to restore 40 km of rivers and streams, Freetown's plan to plant 5 million trees by 2030, and Copenhagen's target to ensure 20% of its total area is covered by tree crowns by 2025.
• The United Kingdom is implementing a policy starting in 2024 that requires property developers to deliver a 10% biodiversity net gain for new housing, industrial, or commercial developments.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Nature Positive: Guidelines for the Transition in Cities. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Guidelines_for_the_Transition_in_Cities_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Nature Positive: Guidelines for the Transition in Cities. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Guidelines_for_the_Transition_in_Cities_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Nature Positive: Guidelines for the Transition in Cities |date=May 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Guidelines_for_the_Transition_in_Cities_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024nature, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Nature Positive: Guidelines for the Transition in Cities}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = may, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Guidelines_for_the_Transition_in_Cities_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }