The Broadway Initiative has collaborated with UN Global Compact at two recent stakeholder events, bringing together corporates and professionals from across the economy to discuss the future of business’s contribution to nature recovery.

The events proved especially timely as Broadway works to shape the current Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) review and revision being undertaken by government, channeling our members’ and stakeholders’ views into the Defra process.

The first event took place at the fabulous London Guildhall, venue for the UN Global Compact UK Annual Summit. Broadway were invited to run a breakout session at the Summit, a session we chose to theme around the government’s EIP review. We asked Defra’s Deputy Director for Strategy Andrew Jackson to join us and engage our invite-only attendees in a lively workshop. UN Global Compact’s Sarah Cook set the scene and explained the relevance of the EIP review to business, Andrew Jackson outlined Defra’s proposed procedure, while Broadway’s Liam Stokes explained how the Broadway Initiative will be linking business into that process.

The heart of the session, however, was the interaction with business colleagues. Vigorous discussion gave rise to clear steers for government and for Broadway to take away: a strong appetite for both science-based targets and immediate drivers of nature positive action, with an understanding that robust targets will take time to develop but nature needs action now; sector planning is needed to drive engagement with the EIP, but also planning that harmonises across sectors, across government and across targets (such as net zero, EIP and economic growth;) and the vital role that credible nature markets have to play in achieving a nature positive contribution.

The following week, Broadway joined UN Global Compact again, this time online for the final webinar of their Nature Based Solutions for Business series. Speaking on the subject of Unlocking Finance, Liam Stokes took the opportunity to tell hundreds of delegates about the development of nature market policy, the significant work left to do, and how they can play a role in that work by signing up as a participant to Broadway’s Nature Markets Dialogue (NMD). Since highlighting the timeliness of this work, as government seeks to revise and review the EIP that could drive demand for nature based solutions, many new professionals have signed up to engage with the NMD. An excellent example of instant, real world impact!

For more information: https://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/nature-based-solutions-for-business/