In a full day of action and packed sessions, Pure Strategies held its 2^nd annual day of events during Climate Week NYC, with a focus on Solutions for Scale. The day kicked off with a fireside chat on nature with moderator Joel Makower, Chairman of Trellis Group and Pure Strategies VP of Sustainability Consulting, Cheryl Baldwin. They discussed Pure Strategies new resource, the Planet-Forward Playbook which demonstrates simple steps companies can take to connect climate and nature for a more effective climate and nature program while aligning with the targets in the Global Biodiversity Framework. Cheryl also shared an exciting opportunity for companies to Start Now for Nature! by signing up to get on the planet-forward path.

During the morning panel: Connecting Climate and Nature with Planet-forward Strategies, three leading companies shared their approach to nature and how it connects to climate - using land footprint as a common metric to start with and working at the landscape-level. The star line-up of panelists included Jerome Del Porto, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Walmart, Joselynne Fynboh, Global Impact, Sustainability and Philanthropy, General Mills, and Kyle Cahill, Head, Global Environmental Sustainability Disclosure and Engagement, Takeda.

Plus, Becky Martin, Environmental Sustainability Manager from Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), drilled into the details on how the company is advancing biodiversity aims, some of the challenges that they have faced, and what it takes to get past these and make more progress, including reaching upstream to raw material sourcing regions.

Our time in NYC afforded an opportunity to enjoy nature with a fun and informative Central Park Bird Walking Tour with the NYC Bird Alliance. Our expert guide, Alyssa Bueno helped us to site many wild birds in the park, including the black and white warbler, Flicker woodpecker and several others - including the melodious Cat bird. We explored how climate change is affecting migratory birds and discussed the important work the NYC Bird Alliance is doing to protect these species.

Our informative panels and discussions continued in the afternoon, where Pure Strategies Managing Director, Tim Grenier looked at supply chain solutions for agriculture with expert panelists including Margaret Henry, VP of Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture, PepsiCo, Katie Anderson, Senior Director, Business, Food and Forests, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Ryan Smith, Director of Regenerative Agriculture Impact and Partnerships, Danone, and Daniella Malin, Co-founder, Head of Impact and Collaboration, Cool Farm Alliance. They highlighted the need to understand what needs farmers have to advance climate-smart agricultural practices and that this may be different across crops and regions (e.g., cost-sharing, agronomic support) and that there are ways to pool a range of funding sources to advance progress (e.g., public, private/corporate, banks/capital, philanthropy, and international development).

Later in the day, Cheryl Baldwin from Pure Strategies helped companies look at climate risk scenarios in a new light, as an opportunity to build rewarding climate strategies. She explained how this includes shifting perspectives with a close look at future scenarios and finding ways to reinforce the business-relevant insights from this process by bringing them into more business processes and programs and across more staff.

We ended the day exploring how to effectively drive supplier action with Jerome Del Porto, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Walmart, Kendrick Repko, Global Sustainability Leader, ADUSA, Kristin Edie, Vice President, Sustainability, Hallmark, and Joselynne Fynboh, Global Impact, Sustainability and Philanthropy, General Mills. They highlighted the need to support suppliers on the journey with capacity building and recognizing/awarding supplier progress and shared that it is important to provide sufficient lead time on expectations.

Pure Strategies is grateful for our stellar panelists and experts and to all of the attendees of our sessions for the refreshing conversations and deeper dives into how we can connect climate and nature with planet-forward strategies and continue to empower suppliers and teams. Don't forget to sign the Call to Action for companies to Start Now for Nature! and advance your corporate climate and nature efforts by signing up to get on the planet-forward path!