The first goal of the project is to define a conceptual framework for the Nature-Positive Economy (NPE) with indicators and evaluation methods to clarify policy, regulatory, and market conditions needed for scale-up.
In the first 18 months, substantial progress was made through two reinforcing activities: robust research and extensive stakeholder engagement. A literature review and consultations generated 750+ responses from stakeholders in 50+ countries. Analysis identified recurring ‘sticky’ issues, further refined with partners and the Impact Board. This cycle of review and consultation, alongside monitoring the evolving political and scientific landscape, led to the first key achievement: publication of the GoNaturePositive! Concept Note on a Nature-Positive Economy (Deliverable 1.1).
Another milestone was a baseline assessment to support the NPE transition. This involved mapping overarching (environment, climate, economic development) and sectoral policy instruments (agri-food, built environment, blue economy, forestry, tourism), assessing alignment with four NPE principles: i) reducing harmful activities, ii) creating additional nature, iii) increasing knowledge of impacts, iv) supporting transformative change. Cooperative initiatives that accelerate action were also analyzed.
The mapping began with 60+ EU and international policy instruments and 60 initiatives, narrowed to 20 each for deeper analysis based on strategic relevance. Pilot partners provided sectoral insights, informing development of policy briefs with illustrative case studies. This culminated in the second key achievement: Mapping policy and co-operative initiative landscapes for systemic change towards a Nature-Positive Economy (Deliverable 1.3).
Finally, the period saw development of a strategy for the Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform (CNEP) to enhance visibility, scaling, and investment readiness of nature-based enterprises (NBEs)—a core element of the NPE. Despite being fragmented and resource-constrained, NBEs are critical drivers of the transition. The strategy, developed collaboratively with NBEs, partners, pilots, Impact Board members, and stakeholders, outlines how to engage and support these businesses. Its publication, Strategy for evolution of the CNEP profiling plans for NBE/NPI engagement for scaling and investment (Deliverable 4.2) was another major achievement of the first reporting period.
