We are a company whose first customer is always planet Earth.

Nature Loss

Nature loss signifies the life dwindling away from our planet.

The biodiversity of life is facing unprecedented challenges due to human activities. Humanity has harnessed the entire planet and its natural resources for its own purposes. For instance, the combined weight of humans and human-owned livestock in the world constitutes 96 percent of the total weight of all mammals. All other mammals in the world make up the remaining four percent.

According to recent assessments, populations of vertebrate species have declined by an average of 69 percent since 1970. Approximately a million species are globally at risk of extinction. In Finland as well, species endangerment continues, and nearly half of the habitat types are estimated to be endangered. Human impact endangers the survival of entire ecosystems, putting human well-being and the economy at risk.

Estimates suggest that over 50 percent of the world's gross domestic product directly relies on nature and the services it provides. The World Economic Forum has elevated nature loss to a significant economic risk alongside the climate crisis. Climate change and nature loss exacerbate each other and must be addressed together. Attempting to solve one while neglecting the other will lead to failure in both.

Over the past decade, companies, investors, and financiers have recognized the seriousness of the climate crisis, and Finnish companies have taken a forefront in combating it. The business sector has repeatedly urged political decision-makers to expedite climate actions and the green transition. However, when it comes to actions against nature loss, the situation has been different thus far.

Nature loss threatens businesses, the economy, and all of humanity. Understanding the severity of these risks implies that ignoring them is not an option. Nonetheless, risks always have a flip side: a new opportunity. This opportunity is now being presented to pioneering companies in the form of new business prospects.

Environmental Activist Companies

Business leaders are expected to be active problem solvers in crises.

The environmental crisis is the greatest crisis of our time. Looking at the environmental crisis from a business perspective, the equation is simple. As the foundation of the economy weakens, so do the prerequisites for business operations. Companies that take action to combat nature loss are not only working for the planet and humanity but also for the sustainability of their own business. The role of companies in society has transformed. The winners and survivors of the future are those who take an active role in aligning their operations and the entire business environment with the limits of the planet.

Amid the environmental crisis, future business leaders must adopt the mindset of environmental activists. It's crucial to comprehend the problem, the company's own role, and the necessary change. Companies must understand their dependence on and impact on nature. They must commit to continuous efforts to minimize their negative ecological footprint. Ultimately, beyond growing their own positive ecological impact, the key goal is to be an active driver of a nature-positive systemic change that encompasses their industry and society at large.

While no single company can address all issues, each company can maximize its positive impact on nature. When companies genuinely commit to nature-positive change, from the boardroom to the leadership, the environment's role in business operations avoids being reduced to mere communication or, at worst, greenwashing. The environment can no longer be a mere item on the checklist or a reporting obligation seen primarily as a cost factor. It must be an integral part of a company's core operations and strategy.

Finnish companies understand the significance of nature loss. According to a survey by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), nearly 75 percent of businesses consider biodiversity to be a highly significant, somewhat significant, or a future influential factor affecting their business environment. Combating nature loss opens up new markets for companies, secures financing and terms, and provides social legitimacy.

Regulations related to halting nature loss are inevitably increasing, and battling against them won't lead to success in the market. Pioneering companies see benefits in stricter and more binding regulations and even demand them from political decision-makers. We've witnessed this in mitigating the climate crisis. The same will happen in combating nature loss. Change just happens faster.

Each company can contribute to making its operations more nature-positive. The range of possibilities is nearly endless. 

Nature Economy

The significance of nature loss has been known among researchers for a long time. The discussion about the economic impacts, risks, and opportunities of nature on the economy and business reached a new level when the University of Cambridge's economics emeritus professor, Partha Dasgupta, published a report on the economic effects of biodiversity in early 2021. According to the report, humanity is wealthier than ever before, but nature is deteriorating faster than ever in human history.

This report also contributed to the establishment of Kari & Pantsar Co.

Economic value chains start with nature. The services provided by ecosystems are not priced, resulting in the continuous overuse of natural resources and the erosion of natural capital. It's crucial for the economy and business to grasp the seriousness of the consequences of ecosystem service collapse.

In Finland, there has been a prevailing view that society's constraints are primarily economic. Economics has defined the range of political decisions and the framework for societal activities. The limits set by the capacity of ecosystems have played a marginal role despite their importance.

Halting local nature loss in Finland is necessary, but local nature loss is just one aspect of the ecological impacts caused by economic activity and consumption. In addition to local impacts, it's essential to consider the global ecological impact of value chains and consumption beyond our borders. When companies use raw materials imported from other countries, their outsourced ecological and social impacts occur elsewhere.

Although global standards for halting nature loss are still being developed, pioneers can already act by identifying their dependencies on and impacts on nature. Much of the necessary information is already available to initiate actions.

Engaging in nature actions is not just charity; it's also about securing one's own interest and competitiveness. Activist leaders should take part in shaping the rules of the market; otherwise, others will do so. The winners and survivors of the future are those who take an active role in aligning their operations and the entire business environment with the limits of the planet.

Kari & Pantsar Co.

Kari & Pantsar Co. was born out of the need to halt nature loss.

Founders Emma Kari and Mari Pantsar are long-standing environmental influencers with strong backgrounds in leadership roles across different sectors of society.

Emma Kari has spent 15 years at the forefront of critical decision-making processes, shaping policies related to nature and climate on local, national, and EU levels. She has served as a City Council Member, a Member of Parliament, and as the Minister of Environment and Climate.

Mari Pantsar has held leadership positions in the environmental sector for over 20 years, including roles as UPM's Environmental Manager, Director of Finland's cleantech cluster, Director of the Finnish government's cleantech program, and Sitra. Additionally, she has served and continues to serve on the boards of several organizations and holds an adjunct professorship at two universities.

The premise is that Finnish companies are well-suited to be problem solvers. Within the Finnish business sector, the potential for gaining a competitive advantage through climate leadership is well understood. Now, the task is to transfer this same understanding and leadership to the realm of biodiversity.

Kari & Pantsar Co. helps pioneers understand how their operations depend on nature, the impact of their activities on the environment, the risks nature loss poses to their operations, and the new business opportunities and competitiveness that a company can gain from strengthening biodiversity. Simultaneously, it reinforces the companies' agency as drivers of systemic change.

Halting nature loss opens up new business opportunities for companies, such as through new products and services. Implementing circular economy models improves resource productivity and reduces pressure on nature. New nature-based solutions can be applied in built environments, aiding adaptation to the inevitable climate crisis. Alternative protein sources, in turn, accelerate the transition to a nature-positive food system.

Kari & Pantsar Co. collaborates with pioneering companies and organizations to accelerate their own operations and systemic change towards success and nature-positivity. While companies alone cannot drive systemic change, at the very least, systemic change cannot occur without companies—and their activist leaders.