What the client needed
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) recognised that nature loss presents growing material risks for retailers, from supply chain resilience and regulatory pressure to reputational and commercial impacts. However, for many retailers and many sustainability professionals, nature is still a relatively new and complex topic. BRC needed a way to support members to move from awareness to action, providing clear direction at a sector level while building practical understanding and confidence within retail businesses. Alongside the development of a nature positive plan and vision for retail, BRC sought targeted capacity building to help sustainability leaders interpret, apply and implement this roadmap within their organisations.
What we did
Nature Positive partnered with BRC, RSK Group and ADAS to co-develop the BRC Nature Positive Plan, the first nature-focused, industry-led roadmap for UK retail. Building on insights from the BRC Nature Maturity Assessment and close engagement with members, we helped design a clear, flexible framework that enables retailers at different stages of maturity to prioritise action on nature, aligned with existing climate and sustainability strategies.
To support implementation of the plan, we designed and delivered a bespoke, one-day nature masterclass for sustainability professionals working in retail. The masterclass combined strategic context with highly practical content, including:
- an introductory quiz on natural objects, both as an icebreaker and to ground the content of the day on an appreciation of real-world nature and biodiversity
- core concepts on nature, biodiversity and ecosystem services and their intersections with climate, people and business
- an introduction to the world of sustainability reporting standards and how these intersect with nature impacts and dependencies
- business drivers for action, including physical and transition risks
- practical guidance on tools to assess and prioritise nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities, from high-level screening tools such as ENCORE to more detailed location-based analysis for material topics
- sessions on integrating nature into corporate strategy and action plans
- discussion on the influence retailers can have across value chains and the drivers of consumer behaviour.
Participants were provided with takeaway materials, including slides, starter guides and links to key tools, to support continued action after the session.
The difference we made
Together, the nature positive plan and masterclass provided retailers with both direction and capability. The plan offers a shared, credible pathway for sector-wide action on nature, while the masterclass helped translate that roadmap into practical understanding and confidence at an individual and organisational level.
Participants reported increased knowledge and skills, a reframing of how they view nature in relation to business decisions and greater confidence to begin defining a nature strategy within their organisations. By combining sector leadership with hands-on capacity building, Nature Positive helped BRC and its members move nature from an abstract concept to a business-relevant priority, strengthening readiness for future disclosure, risk management and nature-positive action across the retail industry.