We’re proud to announce the release of our four new advocacy films for WWF, RSPB and National Trust. Inspired by the Wild Isles series, and produced by Silverback Films, they focus on the urgency of the Nature crisis in the UK and how business can really drive the change that we need to Save Our Wild Isles. They also highlight the risks to businesses that fail to account for their reliance on nature.

Featuring business leaders including Deborah Meaden, leaders from NatWest, John Lewis Partnership, Tesco and the Financial Conduct Authority, as well as leading experts from the food and farming and marine sectors, the films call on businesses to put nature at the heart of every boardroom decision.

• The Business of Nature (30 mins), the first of the four films, focuses on business as a whole. It examines how both the climate crisis and biodiversity collapse will have a significant impact on all of society, and how business cannot survive in a world without nature. The film also demonstrates, however, how there is a major opportunity – with businesses becoming drivers of positive change to actively protect and restore as well as meeting their net-zero targets.
• Banking on a Wilder Tomorrow (23 mins) reveals how the finance sector affects nature in the UK and explores what actions employees and businesses can take to reduce their impact. It points out that with $400 trillion in global capital markets, there is enough money to tackle the nature and climate crises simultaneously and the business opportunities of providing solutions to the nature and climate crises equate to those of the industrial revolution.
• Hungry for Change (25 mins) reveals the impact of the food system on nature in the UK and explores what actions businesses, employees, and farmers can take to reduce their impact. In the film, farmer Neil Heseltine explains how his farm once emitted 200m tonnes of CO2 per year, by introducing nature-positive techniques, it now locks in 90m tonnes of carbon while producing top quality beef and lamb. We need to replicate this model at scale and government must reform farm subsidies to protect nature. Of the £3.3bn annual subsidy, only 11% protects nature.
• Catch-22 (20 mins) reveals the devastating loss of nature in our marine environment and explores actions employees and businesses can take to reduce their impact. The film similarly discusses the need to produce food in a sustainable way from the oceans. Globally, the ocean provides nearly 20% of the protein in our diets, and in the UK our seas provide seafood worth £1.6bn of exports each year. And yet human activity is driving marine life to the edge of collapse. To protect and restore our oceans we must take advantage of new technologies that allow for low-impact fishing, put sustainable quotas in place, strengthen and extend our Marine Protected Areas, and work with nature to lock away carbon.

Deborah Meaden, business leader and investor, said: “I am confident that we can tackle the nature and climate crises – humans are very good at solving problems. What I am worried about is whether we can do it in time, and this is where businesses can play a major role – in accelerating action, driving innovation and seizing the many business opportunities that the inevitable changes to the global economy will bring.”

Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Aviva Investors, said: “The global financial system is more than $400 trillion of capital, many times more than the amount required to meaningfully address both the climate and nature crises. The influence it can have in leading a meaningful transition is huge. By aligning financial incentives properly, governments can ensure investment capital flows more effectively towards activities which support that transition. Doing so should not be seen as a cost, however; it is prudent risk management and a significant investment opportunity.”

Hilary McGrady, Director-General at National Trust, Beccy Speight, CEO of RSPB and Tanya Steele, CEO at WWF said: “We need all hands on deck to tackle the nature and climate crisis and we won’t get the speed of change necessary without the support of businesses and their leaders.  Nature underpins everything – it is our life support system and the foundation of our health, our jobs and our nation’s wealth.  Businesses must publish nature-positive transition plans that leave no room for greenwash.”

The films will be screened by businesses across the country, and are available now on YouTube.