Growing demand for land is putting pressure on ecosystems, communities and plant and animal species.
Companies that do not adequately consider the impacts of their physical presence may cause irreversible degradation to natural processes and resources that they and others rely on, and may undermine the wellbeing of local communities.
Negative impacts must be avoided by:
- Respecting the land rights of communities (e.g. zero tolerance of land grabbing);
- Protecting aquatic ecosystems from degradation (e.g. avoiding coral reefs);
- Protecting areas of high biodiversity value (e.g. no clearing of rainforest for farmland); and
- Not encroaching on areas of cultural importance (e.g. oil pipelines running through regions considered sacred by Indigenous Peoples).
To be Future-Fit, a company must do two things:
- It must protect such areas where it is already present; and
- It must take steps to avoid or mitigate negative outcomes when moving into new areas.