Frequently Asked Questions 26 December 2023

Nature Benchmark: Collective Impact Coalition frequently asked questions

How was the Nature CIC topic chosen and why?

The Nature CIC will focus on pushing companies to assess and disclose their impacts and dependencies on nature. This is based on stakeholder consultation and the WBA Nature Benchmark results.

Company performance on this topic is tracked via indicators B1 and B2 of the Nature Benchmark Methodology. The results from the 2022 and 2023 benchmarks show that of the 769 companies we have benchmarked so far, <5% are assessing and disclosing their impacts, and <1% are assessing and disclosing their dependencies on nature. Without this assessment, it is difficult for companies to really understand their relationship with nature and transform their business activities to reduce negative impacts and increase positive impacts. The disclosure of the assessment is important for stakeholders to see if companies are taking the right actions based on their most material impacts and dependencies. Therefore, we see this assessment and disclosure as fundamental actions to catalyse further effective and impactful action to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.

How is the CIC different to other nature initiatives e.g. NA100, PRI Spring and Business for Nature coalition?

The CIC will strive to build on, rather than duplicate, existing efforts. Our intention is to complement these by filling gaps to ultimately drive more action. We align with all relevant stakeholders regularly, comparing strategic plans and coordinating efforts to avoid duplication.

NA100 is focused on coordinating investors to engage a set of 100 companies. The WBA CIC is multistakeholder, so includes investors but also other stakeholder groups (but not companies directly). Furthermore, the WBA CIC is not only focused on engaging companies, but can also include actions around policy (e.g., COP16). It is likely that some CIC actions will focus on engaging companies, as we want to see companies improve in the next iteration of the benchmark. The WBA Nature Benchmark has assessed 769 companies so far. This means that we can focus on engaging companies that are not in scope of NA100.

PRI Spring focuses on getting investors to engage companies on a specific issue (their lobbying and advocacy on legislation that affects tropical deforestation in specific countries/regions). We strongly support this initiative. However, our benchmark data shows a significant gap in the assessment and disclosure of impacts and dependencies. We see this as key to unlocking more business action on nature, as we believe that once companies and their senior leadership better understand their relationship with nature, they will understand that this is a matter of business risk, resilience and opportunity. This is why we have chosen to focus our CIC on this topic.

Business for Nature (BfN) coalition aims to drive business action and policy ambition to achieve a nature-positive economy for all by 2030. WBA is one of BfN’s 85+ partners and contributes actively to BfN’s advocacy and business action working groups. With a network of over 1400+ companies, BfN is leading the coordination of business engagement to develop strategies for nature (see ‘It’s Now for Nature’ campaign) and participate at COP16. The CIC outputs can and should feed into BfN’s policy asks and business engagement, and therefore we will strive to seek some overlap in participation of BfN’s Leadership Group (decision-making body) and the CIC members.

We further align with other stakeholders working in this space, such as Planet Tracker, TNFD, Finance for Biodiversity, CERES, SBTN and others through our broader Nature Benchmark Engagement Strategy. Across all our work WBA is committed to building a movement for change, including amplifying the work of others and ensuring our work is useful and usable by other initiatives.

What is expected of the Nature CIC co-leads?

Being a co-lead of the Nature CIC means that you play a key role in determining the strategic direction of the CIC. Co-leads help define the coalition’s strategic aims, what actions should be taken, which stakeholders should be involved, and mobilise the relevant stakeholders to make this happen. This involves working closely with WBA and the other CIC co-leads to drive the CIC forward and ensure that the CIC contributes to delivering the change we want to see.

For example, CIC co-leads could co-draft and promote a policy statement in the run-up to COP16 or help to coordinate a collective engagement targeting specific companies. Therefore, being a CIC co-lead offers the opportunity to build visibility and profile in the nature space.

Being a co-lead of the CIC requires an estimated time commitment of approximately 4-6 hours a month, for at least one year.

What is expected of the Nature CIC members?

Being a member of the Nature CIC means that you have a commitment to driving progress on companies’ assessment and disclosure of their impacts and dependencies on nature and participating in CIC activities to deliver the change needed to make this happen.

Together, we will identify potential outputs of the Nature CIC (a ‘menu’ of CIC actions) and we would expect CIC members to participate in the relevant CIC actions where they can have influence – subject to internal approval. Note: Not all members are obligated to participate in all CIC actions (see question 8 for further details).

Being a member of the CIC requires an estimated time commitment of approximately 1-3 hours per month, for at least one year. We anticipate that both co-leads and members of the CIC can rely in part on work that they are already undertaking to inform their role/contributions to the Nature CIC.

What is expected of the Nature CIC co-leads?

What is the planned frequency of meetings and planned outputs for 2024?

We expect to bring all CIC members together on a quarterly basis. CIC co-leads will meet more frequently (e.g. monthly).

Who is eligible to join the CIC? (i.e. kinds of organisations)

Any stakeholder (other than real-economy companies) who demonstrate a commitment to action on nature is welcome to join the CIC. For instance, members of other WBA CICs include investors, CSOs, think tanks, standards-setters and others.

Is there a fee to join the CIC?

No, there are no fees for any organisation that joins the CIC.

Who are the current members of the CIC? Have you defined co-leads?

We have not yet defined the co-leads or members of the CIC. Following the kick-off call in January, we will officially open the recruitment process, and share a sign-up link for organisations to join the CIC as co-leads or members.

By joining the CIC, are investors committing to allocate capital or vote in a certain way?

By participating in the CIC, investors are not committing to making certain investment decisions or voting decisions during AGM season.

What are the next steps to join the Nature CIC?

To register your interest in joining the CIC as a co-lead or member, please reach out to Melis Ford (m.ford@worldbenchmarkingalliance.org).

Interested parties will receive an invitation to join a kick-off call in January which will explore the structure and priorities of the CIC in more depth. Joining this call does not obligate you to participate in the CIC, but will provide an opportunity to ask questions, connect with other potential participants, and help shape the strategic direction of the CIC. Following the call in January, we will share a sign-up link to officially join the CIC.

Where can I get more information?

If you have further questions about CIC membership and participation, please reach out to Melis Ford (m.ford@worldbenchmarkingalliance.org) for a bilateral conversation.

What are the planned actions and outputs for 2024?

Specific outputs (activities) are still to be co-designed by WBA & CIC members, which will in turn support the development of a ‘menu’ of CIC actions. This will include individual stakeholder actions, and multi-stakeholder actions.

Possible actions that could be included in this ‘menu’ might include:

For an investor:

Sign on to a public statement
Participate in a collective engagement effort targeting specific companies
Co-host an event for awareness + learning
Sign on to a policy statement ahead of COP16

For a civil-society organisation:

Participate in an advocacy campaign targeting specific companies
Share insights on what you see as barriers to companies’ understanding their relationship with nature.
Sign on to a policy statement ahead of COP16

A key characteristic of the CICs is their multi-stakeholder component, with CIC members taking coordinated action on a given topic, building on each stakeholder’s strengths, networks and the tools at their disposal.

Which companies will the Nature CIC focus on, and how is this decided?

We have not yet defined a company target list. This will be decided by CIC members and will be based on company performance in the benchmark (e.g. those that do not disclose evidence of assessing and disclosing their impacts and dependencies on nature), plus the ability and willingness of CIC members to engage and influence those companies.

You can find the full datasets for the 2022 and 2023 Nature Benchmarks on our website. Looking at the company scores on the CIC topic indicators (B1 & B2) provides a good indication of the companies that could be targeted as part of the Nature CIC.

My organisation isn’t always able to take part in activities such as collective policy advocacy, but we are still keen to take part in discussions with others about these topics. Is this possible?

Absolutely. We are very aware that not all stakeholders have the same tools at their disposal or the same appetite for public advocacy or campaigning. This is why we have a flexible model whereby CIC members can choose from a ‘menu’ of actions, with the expectation that CIC members will partake in relevant CIC actions where they can have influence – subject to internal approval. With this approach, we hope to build on each member’s strengths and avoid the issue of ‘lowest-common-denominator’ approach that would come with requiring participation of all CIC members in all CIC activities. The idea is that CIC members can prioritise activities to achieve maximum impact, without being held back by the need for consensus on, or universal participation into every single activity.

The CIC should be a place for different groups who are committed to driving progress on corporate assessment and disclosure of impacts and dependencies on nature to come together and leverage their strengths in a complementary and coordinated way to achieve change through concerted and, in some cases, collective, action. We do require a commitment to driving change, being ambitious in achieving this and a willingness to take action but recognise that the type of action available to different stakeholders varies.