BREEAM Webinar Series: A Growing space – Refocusing Priorities on Nature

On 22 July 2025, BRE continued its webinar series A Growing space – Refocusing Priorities on Nature, chaired by Jennifer Dudley, Product Manager - BRE Group. The session explored how BREEAM supports nature-related benefits and highlighted how the new BREEAM Version 7 scheme helps address the challenges of sustainability.

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Jennifer Dudley, Product Manager at BRE

"With BREEAM Version 7, we've strengthened our Land Use and Ecology category to reflect the urgency of the biodiversity crisis. BREEAM has recognised the value of nature since 1990, and we're now aligning more closely with global goals to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve nature positivity by 2050. The criteria focus on the identification of risks and opportunities, mitigation and enhancement and long-term biodiversity management of site ecology, aligning with Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) principles, and supporting clients with measurement and transparency of their ecology achievements."

Morgan Taylor, Director at Greengage Environmental Ltd

"Nature isn’t just one thing. It is everything. Unlike carbon, which we can measure as a single element, nature is complex and circular, and it does not fit neatly into the structured systems we have created. That is why it has been difficult to reflect nature’s value in decision-making. By using the natural capital and five capitals approach, we can begin to translate nature into something tangible, particularly within financial and ESG frameworks. This is how we start to drive real outcomes for nature."

Jonathan Mizzi, Director, Mizzi Studio

"We are nature, but urbanisation has created monocultures that no longer live in balance with the wider kingdoms of life. This disconnection has contributed to rising mental health issues and nature deficit disorder. At Mizzi Studio, we are exploring nature-based solutions and learning from the way plants, fungi, animals and microbes exchange carbon and sustain biodiversity. It's a powerful reminder of how deeply interconnected life is and why restoring that balance is essential."

Mark Topliff, Associate, Natural Capital Consultant at Knight Frank

"Initiatives like the TNFD and Biodiversity Net Gain in England have helped bring nature into sharper focus, encouraging developers to consider it from the outset rather than as an afterthought. While these approaches aren’t perfect, they represent a vital first step in quantifying nature and embedding it more meaningfully into development decisions.”

Sophie Hazza, Head of Nature Services at Longevity Partners

"Frameworks like TNFD are helping clients understand nature related risks and opportunities in familiar terms, much like they do with TCFD. While it is not yet mandatory, the connection with climate related risks, both physical and transitional, is becoming clearer. For many of our clients, this is starting to shift their thinking and raise nature as a material topic that needs to be prioritised."

Ben Mitchell, Principal Ecologist at Ministry of Justice UK

"If we want serious financial support for nature, we need to make it a less risky and more profitable investment than traditional options like government bonds. At the moment, nature is too variable and exposed to climate risks to meet institutional risk profiles. Reaching a tipping point where nature becomes a viable, investable asset is essential. That means improving how we measure and monitor outcomes, making nature a tangible and credible proposition for investors."