According to the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2024, global experts rank “biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse” as the third most severe global risk over the next ten years. Given the built environment is responsible for around 30% of all biodiversity loss [1], our infrastructure will play a pivotal role in how we mitigate this risk. In this series, delivered jointly by MinterEllisonRuddWatts and Arup, we have explored the emerging concept of nature-positive infrastructure (NPI), i.e., infrastructure that takes a proactive and restorative approach to nature and biodiversity gain, right from the design stage. As we draw our series to a close, we look at the current state of play and highlight some practical steps for developing early project and procurement strategies for NPI development.

The continuing nature dialogue

There is ongoing discussion of the need to protect nature and the role it can play in a resilient future. Some key developments are:

• The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) will be held this October in Cali, Colombia. This is the first COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and presents an opportunity to review progress to date as well as consider the future.
• Nature-based solutions have been recognised as one of the five priority pillars in the New Zealand Government’s climate strategy and the discussion document for New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan. 
• In Australia, the Nature Repair Act 2023 established a framework for a world-first legislated, national, voluntary biodiversity market. The development of a Nature Repair Market is underway with the market set to open in 2025.
• Progress has been made on Science-based targets for nature, a process with detailed technical guidance for companies to examine and understand their relationship with nature, set targets, take action and track performance. 
• The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures has recently prepared sector specific guidance (including a draft for engineering, construction and real estate which is due to be finalised by the end of 2024). This guidance will provide organisations, such as electric utilities and power generators [2], with valuable prompts for considering nature (both as a risk and an opportunity) at an early stage and could pave the way for more NPI or, at the very least, infrastructure which aims to reduce biodiversity loss.
• In September, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) published a new chapter in the Playbook for Nature-Positive Infrastructure Development (Playbook) on early lifecycle stages and procurement strategies. (The Playbook is a living document and will be added to and expanded as new solutions and construction techniques that are truly nature-positive are progressed.)

Early lifecycle stages and procurement strategies: A framework

The early lifecycle stages and procurement chapter in the Playbook is aimed at funders, developers, government departments and agencies, and contractors. It sets out how those organisations can incorporate content on NPI into their procurement process project briefs and scopes of work. The chapter encourages consideration of an infrastructure development’s value chain and its broader, indirect impacts as well as a focus on direct effects of a development on biodiversity. It explores the importance of engagement with a range of internal and external stakeholders when implementing nature-positive solutions in the early lifecycle stages of infrastructure development. It also emphasises the important role regulatory drivers play in nature positivity and lists best practice guidance, frameworks, and legislation from around the world [3].

The Playbook breaks down the procurement process into steps to be taken at the planning, contract specifications, and supplier selection stages. We set out below some of the key actions recommended.

1. When assessing the business case for an infrastructure project, consider specific aims/success criteria for nature-positive outcomes alongside economic and societal needs.
2. Define requirements for the project in terms of achieving NPI and take steps to achieve and integrate these into the success criteria, such as:
   1. identify the relevant aspects of biodiversity /nature-positive/ broader sustainability policy and requirements that apply to the procurement aspects of the project;
   2. revisit the key areas in the value chain where procurement processes can influence nature and complete preliminary estimates of where nature could be enhanced;
   3. set the desired outcome for the project as a requirement up-front to encourage early innovation; and
   4. relate back to learning from similar projects.
3. Prepare a sustainable sourcing strategy that includes the business case, requirements and success criteria, and learnings from stakeholders. The size of the strategy will be proportional to the project. The Playbook lists key considerations to be included, such as the actions required to manage risks to nature and how the sourcing approach will deliver nature-positive objectives [4].
4. Make suppliers aware of the selection criteria and process for supplier selection when they are invited to tender.
5. Ensure nature-positive requirements are incorporated into contracts with potential suppliers, including via:
   1. standard contractual clauses that enable tracking and monitoring towards desired outcomes [5];
   2. specifications for parts, materials, and products; and
   3. aligning contractual key performance indicators and metrics to sustainability ratings and assessments.

Nature-positive thinking: A conclusion

In this series, we have aimed to shine a light on NPI and how it can be encouraged and implemented to shape New Zealand’s future.

• We introduced the concept of NPI in our first article of this series. While the terminology can be confusing, there are different degrees to which nature can be incorporated into infrastructure to reverse biodiversity loss and, in the best-case scenario, enhance the environment through biodiversity net gain.
• In our second and third articles we considered New Zealand’s current regulatory and planning regime and whether upcoming reforms could create opportunities for positive change.
• We focused, in our fourth article, on the UK’s Environment Act as an example of legislation which is setting global precedent through requiring new developments to demonstrate a Biodiversity Net Gain.
• Regardless of legislative mandate, parties may choose to contract for nature, and our fifth article discussed ways to incorporate nature-positive clauses into construction contracts and some potential legal challenges of doing so.
• Our sixth article discussed the potential role of nature markets to facilitate investment in nature-based activities and support the transition to NPI.

Collaboration within the infrastructure sector and across countries will help to promote the concept of NPI: the more resources and examples, the greater and faster the uptake. While biodiversity loss is a risk, we have an opportunity to be creative and innovative with our infrastructure, to contribute to the solution, and to prove that nature restoration and commercial viability can coexist. If you would like to know more about the role NPI can play please get in touch with one of our experts at MinterEllisonRuddWatts or Arup.

Footnotes

1. Draft-sector-guidance-Engineering-construction-and-real-estate-PDF-Final.pdf (tnfd.global), p.18
2. Additional-Sector-Guidance-Electric-Utilities-and-Power.pdf (tnfd.global)
3. A playbook for nature-positive infrastructure development by FIDIC - Issuu, part 2.2.
4. A playbook for nature-positive infrastructure development by FIDIC - Issuu, p.34.
5. For more detail, see Contract drafting for Nature Positive Infrastructure (minterellison.co.nz)