Finland is required to submit a National Restoration Plan by September 2026 – are you aware of the implications on your business?
The EU's Nature Restoration Regulation, enacted in August 2024, is a groundbreaking law aimed at reversing the degradation of ecosystems across Europe. As the first continent-wide comprehensive legislation of its kind, it sets legally binding targets to restore at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030 and restoring all ecosystems in need by 2050. The regulation includes targets for, e.g., extension of natural habitats and increasing species populations, the reverse of the decline of pollinators and reviving river flows.
The EU’s Nature Restoration Regulation, enacted in August 2024, is a groundbreaking law aimed at reversing the degradation of ecosystems across Europe. As the first continent-wide comprehensive legislation of its kind, it sets legally binding targets to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and restoring all ecosystems in need by 2050. The regulation includes targets for, e.g., extension of natural habitats and increasing species populations, the reverse of the decline of pollinators and reviving river flows.
EU Member States, including Finland, are required to submit National Restoration Plans by 1 September 2026. The plan should concretely outline how the country aims to implement the regulation through protection and restoration of natural ecosystems in line with the EU timeline. In particular, the focus of the plan should be on:
- Increasing forest biodiversity and forest connectivity
- Restoring and protecting marine ecosystems
- Bringing nature back to urban areas
- Increasing certain species’ populations in agricultural areas and improving the state of agricultural land
How will the regulation affect your business?
While the regulation primarily mandates actions at the national level, its implementation will inevitably influence businesses in several ways.
- Regulatory compliance: To meet restoration targets, EU Member States may introduce stricter environmental regulations affecting industrial emissions, land use and pollution control. Businesses should anticipate and prepare for these changes to ensure compliance.
- Operational adjustments: Companies involved in forestry land development and agriculture need to adapt their practices. For instance, there could be restrictions on activities near protected or restored areas, necessitating changes in operations.
- Reporting and transparency: The regulation aligns with broader sustainability initiatives, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), requiring companies to disclose their environmental impacts. This emphasis on transparency will encourage businesses to integrate nature restoration into their sustainability reporting.
To address nature, other environmental topics need to be considered as well
Before discussing how companies should take action to respond to these regulatory developments around nature, we need to acknowledge the linkages between different environmental topics.
Biodiversity and ecosystems (ESRS E4) are linked to other environmental topics as highlighted in the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS), which provides methodology for implementing CSRD reporting requirements. For instance, ESRS E1 (Climate Change) requires companies to consider the climate impacts on biodiversity while ESRS E2 (Pollution) addresses how pollutants affect ecosystems. Similarly, ESRS E3 (Water and Marine Resources) focuses on water use and its effect on aquatic biodiversity and ESRS E5 (Resource Use and Circular Economy) promotes resource efficiency to prevent habitat loss. Furthermore, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) encourages businesses to integrate biodiversity into their broader sustainability strategy by providing a framework to support companies in assessing nature-related risks. The framework emphasises the interdependency between biodiversity, climate, pollution, water and resource use.
As can be seen from these examples, nature is practically embedded into all environmental topics. Understanding this context will help companies to better consider nature aspects in decision-making and business development.
Forerunners are taking proactive steps in nature restoration – and it pays out
Identifying nature-related opportunities and risks starts with acknowledging that most businesses depend on materials and services from natural ecosystems. Finding dependencies can be tricky as it requires assessing the goods used along a company’s value chain and tracing those goods back to their biological sources, as well as mapping out the ecosystem functions that aid the business activity. However, by putting nature positive strategies in place and integrating them into broader development initiatives, business leaders can harness new opportunities that create sustainable outcomes. To get started, we recommend businesses to do the following:
- Measure your nature baseline. As with any issue, the first step toward effective nature management approach is assessing your baseline, i.e., the extent of your nature impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities. This can be done on a high-level through a double materiality assessment (DMA).
- Plan how to manage nature risks and capture opportunities. Once your company’s baseline is known, you can set mitigation actions for the most material nature risks and plan actions with which to capture business value by better managing your company’s interaction with nature.
- Improve decision-making and transparency with data. To manage the identified nature risks and opportunities, you will need reliable data sources, suitable systems, and controls in place. It is good to note that especially improving data quality will take long; thus, starting the development efforts early will benefit you in the long run.
Forerunners who take these steps to proactively engage in nature restoration experience several business benefits through improved risk management, cost savings, access to capital and brand reputation.
- Risk management: Biodiversity loss can pose significant risks to businesses, such as supply chain disruptions, legal and regulatory penalties and reputational damage. A biodiversity strategy helps to identify and manage these risks and ensure business continuity and compliance.
- Cost savings: Biodiversity conservation measures can lead to cost savings through operational efficiencies, for example, reduced energy consumption, minimised waste and optimised water use.
- Access to capital: Investors are increasingly looking for companies that prioritise sustainability, including biodiversity conservation. Developing a biodiversity strategy can help a company attract investors and enable eligibility for different funding options to secure green financing.
- Brand reputation: Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of
environmental issues, including biodiversity loss. A biodiversity strategy and commitment to conservation can enhance company’s brand reputation, attract new customers and talent and retain existing ones.
Are you ready to capitalise on these benefits? We are, and we can support in kick-starting your nature restoration journey today.
