Dow’s blueprint for valuing nature

Plant the seed.

While evaluating Dow’s 2005-2015 Sustainability Goals and in the spirit of striving for continued improvement, the question was asked: How else can we advance sustainability in business? The answer: Nature. Recognizing we are not nature experts; we reached out to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and started a strategic collaboration in 2011.

Built on a shared vision to make a business case for nature, the collaboration led to the creation of the Valuing Nature Sustainability Goal, part of Dow’s 10-year 2025 Sustainability Goals launched in 2015. This ambitious goal set a target to deliver $1 billion in net present value by 2025 through projects that are good for business and better for nature and gave the company, stakeholders, and employees a clear vision of Dow’s ambition to prioritize nature as a stakeholder. A passionate Valuing Nature team was formed to help incorporate a nature lens in decision-making across Dow’s global business and drive collaborations that are a win-win-win for Dow, nature and potential collaborators.

Dow’s Valuing Nature Goal

The Birth of Dow’s Valuing Nature Goal: Dow and The Nature Conservancy

Watch - Dow 2025 Sustainability Goals: Valuing Nature

Help ideas sprout.

Just as a seed needs to be planted in nutrient-rich soil to thrive, Dow’s culture also needed to nurture and drive the success of the Valuing Nature Goal. Internal awareness and corporate culture change were important factors in helping Team Dow see the financial opportunity of applying a nature lens to business decisions.

By hosting nature goal workshops and communicating success stories through case studies and sharing promotional videos, employees began to understand the value in nature capital and how they can contribute. For Dow, a pipeline of projects came from four key areas: process improvements, nature-based solutions, conservation, and new products. Active participation helps move from early adoption to mainstream action. 

Building an Internal Culture for Valuing Nature

Defining Opportunities & Showcasing Examples

A Valuing Nature Example: On-site Wetlands

A nature lens takes root.

The aim is to embed a Nature Valuation Methodology into existing work processes. For the Valuing Nature Goal to take root, Dow employees, who are typically not well-versed in ecology and conservation sciences, needed easy-to-use tools to make better decisions about valuing nature. By applying a Nature Valuation Methodology, business decisions can be made that consider not just business value but also nature capital value. The methodology includes a three-tiered project valuation methodology (Guertin et al. 2019):

• An initial screen to identify potential opportunities at a very early stage of a project.
• A subsequent analysis to identify and quantify environmental impacts of the proposed project using the Ecosystem Services Identification and Inventory (ESII) tool, or traditional Life Cycle Analysis.
• A final step that considers and compares the financial and natural capital returns associated with the various project alternatives referred to as scorecard.

Dow’s Nature Team: Facilitating the Nature Valuation Methodology

Case Study: Putting the Nature Valuation Methodology Into Practice

Valuing Nature Tools Overview

Branch out!

At Dow, we realize Valuing Nature is intrinsically outward-focused. Branching out into the world can help grow impact and bring mutual benefits to Dow, its collaborators and nature. Collaborators can be from a variety of sectors (e.g., government, non-governmental organizations, academia, suppliers, or customers) and can bring many different strengths to a project (e.g., expertise, reputation, global reach, or regulatory support). An external stakeholder assessment tool can help identify and prioritize potential collaborators.

Since 2011, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has been a key collaborator with Dow in making the business case to value nature. Since then, Dow also has collaborated with organizations from several sectors to incorporate nature into decision-making processes.

Collaborating to Grow Impact Across Sectors

10 Years of Valuing Nature: A Conversation with TNC

The Nature Conservancy 2017-2020 Summary Report

Watch - An example of Collaboration: Project in Brazil Ybá

What has blossomed?

Progress toward the goal is not always linear, nor is it always by leaps and bounds. Progress may be many small projects that add up, incrementally contributing to the goal. Or, like a tree weathering a storm, progress can have its setbacks and may potentially need cultural reinforcement. Are employees applying a nature lens to business decisions? Are collaborations at their strongest potential? When assessing environmental returns, how do you weigh trade-offs or competing dimensions?

Although business value is easily measurable in net present value, tracking the value to nature can be more complicated. This can be done through tools such as the ESII Tool or Nature Scorecard developed by TNC and Dow or through a Life Cycle Analysis. A third-party validation may also be appropriate.

Tracking Culture

Tracking Nature Value

Tracking Business Value

Share the seed, grow the forest.

Dow hopes its Valuing Nature journey and blueprint provide the seed to help other companies and organizations that are seeking to incorporate nature conservation into business decision-making.

Beyond the bottom-line benefits, Dow established its Valuing Nature Goal to demonstrate to other companies how shared risks – such as water scarcity and climate disruption – can become shared opportunities for businesses and communities when they invest in nature-based solutions.

That is why we continue to share all tools, lessons learned and research results publicly and through peer review to enable other companies, scientists and interested parties to test and apply them.