Embracing Business Practices That Actually Improve the World

What organizations need to know about adopting “regenerative” practices that actively help ecosystems and communities — not just minimize harm to them.

April 05, 2024

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The science is clear that the track we’re on is not good enough to prevent further catastrophic effects from climate change. We’re beyond a point where we can merely aim to do less bad; we need to actively regenerate the areas that have experienced significant degradation. Regenerative businesses aim to improve ecosystems and communities, rather than simply minimize harm to them. But in this rapidly expanding, philosophically attractive, and still unsettled space of regenerative business, those who want to take action on regeneration are working from many definitions and approaches. The authors unpack some of the competing definitions of regeneration and show how certifications can help organizations ensure their regeneration strategies and practices support a truly regenerative future.

At the COP28 conference late last year, regeneration emerged as a focus for business leaders. Regenerative businesses aim to improve ecosystems and communities, rather than simply minimize harm to them. It’s no wonder it’s a hot topic — the science is screaming at us that the track we’re on is not good enough to prevent further catastrophic effects from climate change. According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, we’ve already crossed six of the nine planetary boundaries, “processes that are critical for maintaining the stability and resilience of [the] Earth system as a whole.”

Char Love is global director of advocacy at Natura &Co and executive in residence at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Caitlin McElroy, PhD, is a departmental research lecturer at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.

Roberta Roesler, PhD, is head of make-up development, process, and formula sustainability at Avon International and was previously global R&D director for regeneration and circularity at Natura &Co.

Eve Fraser is a climate policy analyst at the NewClimate Institute and was previously a research assistant at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.

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