Colum: Leading with Nature: How?

"We are witnessing a fundamental shift in companies' approach to nature.
 
Biodiversity is increasingly emerging as a critical agenda for leaders, presenting new and challenging questions and intensifying corporate efforts to reduce harm to the already stressed ecosystem.

This is the topic of today’s column in Børsen Ledelse, written by Postdoc Jonathan Feddersen and Professor Majken Schultz from the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School.

According to Feddersen and Schultz's research, companies are adopting a new approach to nature that goes beyond simply reducing biodiversity loss. They are now actively developing solutions that promote biodiversity. For instance, Carlsberg and Arla are experimenting with regenerative agriculture, Ørsted is establishing artificial reefs, and VELUX is engaged in reforestation.

To ensure a real and lasting impact, it's essential to adopt the right midset. Nature-positive strategies are motivated not only by the urgent need to address the global climate crisis but also by business considerations.

The engagement in nature restoration raises three challenging questions that leaders must address:

What kind of nature do we want to restore? Should we be recreating ecosystems as they were before industrialization? Or should we embrace new, human-made landscapes that benefit both nature and business interests?

How do we restore nature? There is a fundamental tension between the scales at which companies and ecosystems operate – both in time and space.

What is the role of innovation? New reporting standards make it possible to compare and rank companies' biodiversity efforts. This creates an incentive to develop new, innovative biodiversity-promoting solutions. "
 
You can read the column in Børsen here (in Danish)

Or find the English version here