Wanted Alive, Not Dead: An Alternative Nature-Based Classification for Firms

While human activities worldwide have exponentially increased, challenging Earth’s capacity, businesses have ignored planetary limits, taking natural ecosystems for granted. Thus, multinational company (MNC) managers need a compass to navigate towards sustainable development, which entails new assessment methods for policymakers. We propose a nature-based firm classification: (i) living, (ii) dead, and (iii) zombie firms, and a framework for transitioning between these classifications. This framework will assist government policymakers in revisiting their sustainability assessment processes and support MNC managers in rethinking how to achieve sustainable operations by connecting nature with business and reimagining international business practices through a comprehensive nature-based view.