Guiding Businesses in integrating Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions in Decision-Making Processes: Highlights from the Infrastructure and Built Environment Sector

A Guidance Booklet, Guiding Businesses in integrating Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions in Decision-Making Processes, produced by IUCN for NetworkNature, explores how companies in the infrastructure and built environment sector can move from recognising biodiversity risk to embedding Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in everyday decision-making.

The sector is among the most resource-intensive in the economy, responsible for a significant share of global emissions, material consumption and land use change, yet it also holds huge potential for NbS. Integrating biodiversity is no longer optional but essential for long-term competitiveness, with nature-based strategies able to unlock substantial annual value for the sector across Europe.

Drawing on a December 2024 capacity-building event, the booklet showcases two success stories:

• Anglian Water's treatment wetland in Norfolk replaced costly conventional infrastructure with a series of constructed ponds that naturally remove pollutants, saving an estimated $1-2 million in implementation costs while restoring a rare chalk stream habitat and creating community and educational benefits
• Holcim's nature conservation and restoration work across Argentina, Colombia and Poland demonstrates how habitat rehabilitation and water stewardship, including rainwater harvesting and progressive ecological restoration, can deliver both biodiversity recovery and operational cost savings

The report also sets out the main barriers businesses face around knowledge gaps, policy and partnership limitations, and financing challenges, particularly the high transaction costs and transition risks associated with NbS compared to traditional grey infrastructure.

To address these challenges, the booklet highlights practical tools such as ENCORE, IBAT, Aqueduct and the WWF Risk Filter, and calls for stronger cross-sector partnerships, clearer regulatory frameworks, and a shift in how financial returns from nature are calculated.

For the infrastructure and built environment sector, the message is clear: with 70% of the infrastructure that will exist by 2050 yet to be built, the opportunity to design with nature rather than against it has never been greater.

IUCN