NATURE Impacts: National Assessment Tool for Understanding Relative Environmental Impacts

Global ambitions for nature recovery remain far below what is needed, with all global metrics of biodiversity indicating continued decline. At a national level there is often insufficient commitment and prioritisation towards actions most urgently needed for global impact. There is a failure to weigh positive initiatives against destructive business as usual, so net contributions are challenging to assess.  Crucially there is also a failure to recognise the interconnectedness of global conventions – including the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and the synergies and trade-offs across actions to address biodiversity loss, climate change and sustainable development.

The aim of this project is to track global progress and prioritise action for nature across the Triple Challenge, building on existing initiatives and datasets. Unlike many existing trackers, this project will:

• Shift the focus beyond merely assessing whether a nation has fulfilled its commitments, towards identifying the most impactful future actions to maximize positive outcomes for nature.
• Guide stakeholders in understanding not only what they have done but what they must do to achieve the greatest positive impact for nature, rather than only monitor progress against predetermined targets of specific conventions.
• Account for regional differences in priorities and capacities and integrates feedback loops where actions in one region amplify or support outcomes in another, creating a truly interconnected and systemic view of global action.

The initial stage of this project will involve:

• A systematic review to identify existing datasets, trackers, and how they interact with targets across global nature commitments. This will showcase the data currently available, identify gaps in existing knowledge, highlight opportunities for maximum positive impact, and ensure we engage with others working in this space.
• A global expert elicitation to demonstrate the potential breadth of the concept. Utilising a large, diverse group of experts, such as the IUCN SSC network, to assess current progress and priorities for all nation-states. This will be presented at the COP in Belém.
• The long-term vision is that this pilot project will contribute towards the development of:
• An interactive dashboard allowing users to select a country and access comprehensive data on its nature recovery actions, commitments, biodiversity status, and prioritised areas for increased resourcing and ambition.
• Country-specific opportunity reports and annual global syntheses in peer-reviewed scientific literature which will also be publically launched, along with specific calls for action, two months before relevant COPs annually.