Beyond Net Zero – Global GreenTag’s NaturePositive+ Declaration™ Certifies Products That Have Positive Eco Impact

Over the past few decades, climate science has revealed that the extent of the climate crisis is worse than previously imagined. The global stocktake at the recent COP28 indicated that the world is off track in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. To limit global warming to 1.5°C, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels. In parallel, the Montreal Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework 2023 was signed by 190 nations to restore 30% of the world’s biodiversity by 2030.  

To make up for the world’s shortcomings, achieving just net zero carbon emissions or net zero environmental impact isn’t enough. Industries must have a net positive impact on the environment and nature, to restore some of the huge damage that humans have done to the planet since the Industrial Revolution.  

For this to happen, consumers must be able to determine which products are contributing to the repair of nature and the climate. Global GreenTag International, an Australia-based company that provides certification services for green, healthy, and ethical products, has launched the NaturePositive+ Declaration™ (NP+D), creating a product certification pathway to nature repair.  

Unveiled at the 2023 Circularity Conference, held on November 20-21, 2023 in Melbourne, NP+D is a multi-metric, certification and rating system that goes beyond the current thinking on circular economy and carbon. This is backed by the NaturePositive+ Standard, which, rather than limiting carbon emissions, instead focuses on biodiversity to achieve the carbon drawdown needed to meet the Paris Agreement using nature-based solutions. 

The NP+D rating comes in four levels with increasing positive nature impact: Bronze (105%), Silver (110%), Gold (120%), and Platinum (150%+). The full transparency report, which is based on detailed information submitted by manufacturers and thoroughly verified by Global GreenTag’s assessors and auditors, is more than 40 pages long and includes the full environmental product (EPD), health, ethical supply chain, and modern slavery product declarations. 

According to Global GreenTag, NP+D can holistically measure products for benefits, using the world’s first life cycle benefit analysis that uses traditional life cycle impact methodology retuned, as well as life cycle impacts, using metrics across nine categories, namely: circularity, climate repair, life cycle analysis, ingredient hazard, supply chain transparency, social and indigenous benefit, safe and ethical supply chains, modern slavery risk assessment, and innovation. 

The NaturePositive+ Standard incorporates and refocuses many of Global GreenTag's existing services, delivered in an integrated package that simultaneously delivers an overall rating, key metrics, and detailed transparency report. Elements within NP+D are already compliant with leading rating tools like Green Star, the International WELL Building Standard, and LEED, and contain a globally recognised circular economy metric. 

The first product to receive an NP+D certification is the Thermal Haven Nest Boxes®, which uses 90% of waste materials from an existing manufacturing process. It is also specially designed to provide a habitat for birds and mammals that mimics the thermal performance of natural log hollows. While planting trees is important to replenish tree cover lost to deforestation, it takes 80-100 years for a tree to develop the hollows needed to serve as shelter for various bird and mammal species. The nest boxes provide a habitat for these animals much sooner, allowing populations to recover at a faster rate. 

NaturePositive+ products can be classified into two types: the first delivers net-nature positive impact in its own capacity, such as the aforementioned nest boxes, while the second type is a more conventional product that uses nature-positive offsets. According to Global GreenTag, these offsets focused not just on carbon sequestration, but on holistic ecosystem and forest restoration. This service is most beneficial to those entrepreneurs and manufacturers who are delivering circular manufacturing processes. One such Global GreenTag manufacturer is working to recover and recycle reinforced PVC fabric, separating the elements, turning it back into the same fabric, and returning it to sale within the same industry. The benefit of the NP+D approach quantifies the benefits, reducing the number of nature-based offsets to be purchased to take their product to nature NetZero. This allows the manufacturer to decide to what extent they wish the product to be Net Nature Positive.   

According to Global GreenTag Co-Founder and CEO, David Baggs, restoring the Earth’s biodiversity is crucial in regenerating carbon sink potential, both above ground and, more importantly, within the soil. A biodiverse environment is dramatically more effective in taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. 

“With the world falling even more behind its climate targets, everyone needs to take more urgent and more impactful action,” says Baggs. “Just being net-zero carbon isn’t enough. Manufacturers should contribute to the repair and restoration of the environment through nature-positive processes. The number of environmentally conscious consumers, professionals, companies, and projects is growing, and they need a way to verify whether the products they buy are doing their fair share of restoring nature and climate. Our NaturePositive+ Declaration brings together everything that we have worked on over the years, creating an overarching framework and metric that is objective, science-backed, and calibrated against planetary boundaries and the needs of the green building and infrastructure sectors."