25.03.2025

The Connection Between Biodiversity and Manufacturing

It’s an often forgotten part of the equation for corporations setting sustainability goals, but for the future of the planet and the economy alike, biodiversity matters.

Companies across the world are still waking up to the importance of biodiversity. In Europe, just 30 percent of the largest countries have adopted biodiversity targets, according to S&P Global. The numbers are even lower in the Asia-Pacific market, where less than 15 percent have set targets, and the U.S., where less than 10 percent have.

The truth is that biodiversity loss is not just an environmental crisis, it’s an economic and social emergency. And this lack of corporate commitment to the cause stands in stark contrast to its importance. Recent ISPRA estimates reveal that the economic toll of biodiversity loss ranges between $10 trillion and $25 trillion annually. That’s not a distant threat, it’s a cost we’re already paying.

As biodiversity is increasingly threatened by industrial activity, it’s time manufacturers positioned it as a top priority.

The pressing need for protection

Biodiversity includes all living things on Earth and the way they interact, including the incredible amount of variation across species and genetics. The term encompasses the ever-changing and interconnected nature of life, human or otherwise. Maintaining biodiversity is a key point of protection for our well-being and health.

Here in Italy, we’re fortunate to have a wide range of biogeographic regions that together give us one of the most biodiverse countries in the European Union. But even Italy has cause for concern, with land transformations that date back thousands of years meeting a trend toward abandonment of rural areas. Some geographies have become vulnerable and lack a true identity. No different than other countries, Italy must take action to protect its more than 58,000 faunal species or see its rural and indigenous communities face a threat to their livelihoods, their cultures, and their survival. As forests are cleared, waters are polluted, and fish stocks dwindle, these communities are pushed further into economic instability.

But even purely from a business perspective, there is an urgent need to protect biodiversity. After all, $44 trillion of economic value generation—more than half the world’s GDP—is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its service, according to the World Economic Forum and PwC. That means $44 trillion in economic value is exposed to nature loss.

The impact of manufacturing on biodiversity

That value is currently under attack. At least one million species are threatened with extinction. “Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history,” says the UN, “and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely.”

The UN points to changes in land and sea use, organism exploitation, climate change, and pollution among the culprits. Even with programs to reforest and conserve, the world lost forest area in the size of two Californias over the last two decades, a report from Forest Declaration Assessment found. Industrial processes, of course, contribute to this biodiversity loss when they change how land is used or how resources are extracted, and when they produce carbon emissions.

It’s clear that to maintain biodiversity, corporations must commit and deliver on their promises to invest in nature restoration.

How creating a circular economy can benefit biodiversity

To ensure they’re being good stewards of the Earth’s limited stock of life and resources, every company should be on a quest to create a truly circular economy.

With a focus on reducing waste and reusing materials, a circular economyis one of the most effective ways manufacturing can support biodiversity. In contrast to the traditional model, in which companies take, make, and dispose, a circular economy minimizes raw material extraction and reduces industrial waste.

The overarching goal is to keep materials and products in use indefinitely. In a closed loop system, materials are regenerated after use and therefore never end up in a landfill.

Implementing such a system takes a ground-floor examination of current processes, from the way products are designed, to their material components, to how those components and products may be recycled or reused in the future. But the end result is massive—rather than bandaid over carbon emissions with faulty carbon offsets, a circular approach is a true commitment to engaging in the hard work of lowering emissions and, by extension, protecting biodiversity. Businesses also benefit by improving resilience against future resource scarcity.

How manufacturers can take action to reduce pressure on biodiversity

As with any large-scale change, it’s important that companies interested in protecting biodiversity start by taking a hard look at their current operations and practices. While the ultimate goal is to move toward a circular economy, getting there requires action on many fronts, both from public and private entities.

On the public front, it’s encouraging to see countries coming together recently to put more than $200 billion per year by 2030 toward conserving biodiversity. The COP16 talks resulted in a “permanent arrangement” for biodiversity funding for developing nations and “future-proofing” funding past 2030, as CarbonBrief reported.

It’s time to move beyond conversations and into action—not just in global summits, but in our industries, businesses, and daily choices. Companies can, for instance, source materials from sustainable suppliers. They can invest in cleaner technologies like energy-efficient machinery and water recycling systems. They can assess how their product designs could be altered to incorporate more responsible materials. And they can take a range of other steps to reduce their emissions.

At Aquafil Group, we’re taking a bold step with our Biodiversity Impact Assessment—a deep dive into how our operations affect local ecosystems. This initiative, spanning even our non-EU plants, will serve as the foundation for meaningful action: mitigating our impact, safeguarding protected areas, and driving real change for the flora and fauna around us.

After all, biodiversity is at stake, and the stakes are high. Manufacturers that take proactive measures to protect it will reap the rewards of business resilience, not to mention an enhanced brand reputation. But they’ll also be doing their part to protect a massive swath of the world’s economic activity—the slice that is dependent on nature. Those are outcomes that are well worth the investment in time and resources. Because when we protect biodiversity, we protect our collective future.