Today, May 22, is International Biodiversity Day. A day to pause, reflect — and reckon. Because with only five years remaining to achieve both the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, we face a decisive moment.

The time to act is not tomorrow. It is now. And yet, for many organizations, these global targets still feel distant — like well-intended but unrelated commitments made in rooms far from the pulse of daily operations. Biodiversity? Isn’t that for governments and NGOs to figure out? The SDGs? Aren’t those aspirational checkboxes for sustainability reports?

This gap — between ambition and application, policy and practice — is where we risk falling short. But it’s also where our greatest opportunity lies.

A New Kind of Urgency

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 in December 2022, set out to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. It is ambitious, necessary, and interdependent with the SDGs. Achieving any of these targets means transforming how we work — not just how we talk about sustainability, but how we fund, design, lead, and deliver.

And that’s where the challenge becomes real.

Across sectors, I hear the same refrain: “We support sustainability — but we don’t see how our projects connect to biodiversity.” This isn’t denial. It’s disorientation. It’s the experience of professionals who want to contribute but are missing the scaffolding, language, and leadership to do so.

We’re not short on will. We’re short on pathways.

Why Organizations Feel Disconnected

Let’s be clear: biodiversity isn’t a fringe concern. It is a systems issue — as foundational as carbon emissions or labor equity. When ecosystems collapse, so do the supply chains, communities, and climate systems that businesses rely on.

So why the disconnect?

1. Translation Trouble

Many global goals are written in the language of policy. They are essential, but often hard to translate into operational decisions. As a result, biodiversity remains abstract — something mentioned in board statements but rarely seen in project scopes or procurement plans.

We’ve inherited a corporate lexicon that separates sustainability from delivery, ethics from execution. But as Natural Capitalism reminded us decades ago, doing business as if nature matters isn’t just idealistic — it’s pragmatic.

2. The Illusion of Irrelevance

There’s a persistent myth that biodiversity is someone else’s problem. Something that affects rainforests, not retail. Bees, not budgets.

In truth, every business, every sector, and every community depends on nature — either directly or through the fragile threads of the global economy. Agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, energy, construction, tourism, and tech are all deeply reliant on the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is infrastructure.

When biodiversity breaks down, the consequences are not just ecological. They’re financial, social, and operational.

3. A Leadership Gap

We are also facing a leadership gap — not in talent, but in mindset. Most current leadership models were designed for efficiency, not regeneration. They reward speed over reflection, output over outcome. As I explore in Becoming Regenerative, truly sustainable leadership begins within — not in project charters or KPIs, but in identity, alignment, and values.

We don’t just need sustainable goals. We need regenerative leaders.

So What’s the Good News?

There is a path forward — and it’s already in motion.

A powerful shift is happening in the world of project leadership. Project managers, sustainability officers, and PMOs (Project Management Offices) are emerging as unexpected champions of biodiversity. Why? Because they sit at the intersection of vision and execution. They have the tools, influence, and frameworks to translate global goals into local results.

And now, a transformational alliance has formed: the PMI–GPM Joint Venture.

This collaboration unites the global scale and structure of the Project Management Institute with the regenerative depth of Green Project Management. Together, they are equipping project professionals to lead sustainability from the inside out — not as an add-on, but as a design constraint and competitive advantage.

From Frameworks to Flow

The PMI GPM P5 Standard provides a powerful tool for this translation. By evaluating the People, Planet, and Prosperity impacts of every product, process, and project, organizations can embed biodiversity into core business decisions — not just report on it after the fact.

PMOs can lead the way by:

  • Aligning portfolios with biodiversity-related ESG targets
  • Incorporating biodiversity risks and opportunities into risk registers
  • Embedding local ecosystem considerations into site selection, procurement, and operations
  • Educating teams on the systemic relevance of biodiversity to project success
  • Designing for restoration, not just mitigation

This isn’t theoretical. In our work at GPM, we’ve seen organizations lower emissions, reduce supply chain risks, and increase community trust — simply by making biodiversity a visible part of project planning.

Regeneration is Not a Trend

The shift toward regenerative business is not a fad. It’s a return to something much older — and much wiser.

As Indigenous and ancestral knowledge reminds us, we are not separate from the natural world. Business is not outside of ecology. And leadership is not about extraction, but relationship.

So on this Biodiversity Day, let’s shift the conversation:

  • From siloed strategy to integrated execution
  • From abstract goals to accountable action
  • From disconnection to deep, regenerative leadership

Let’s stop seeing biodiversity as a constraint, and start seeing it as a source of creativity and resilience.

Let’s reframe success — not as dominance over nature, but as harmony within it.

What You Can Do Today

If you’re a project professional, here’s where you can begin:

  • Assess your projects for their biodiversity impacts — not just risks, but opportunities to restore.
  • Use the GPM P5 impact analysis tool to evaluate how your work affects ecosystems and equity.
  • Ask better questions in team meetings: “What would it look like if this project helped the local environment thrive?”
  • Get training on Sustainable Project Management and learn to use all of the tools and methods we have developed to make projects more sustainable
  • Bring sustainability into the conversation early — at initiation, not just close-out.
  • Mentor the next generation in regenerative thinking — because the work ahead is generational.