LONDON/SAO PAULO — More than 100 companies, including Unilever, L'Occitane and Iberdrola, have called on governments to enact tougher policies to reach a UN goal on halting nature loss by the end of the decade.

With more than one million species on the brink of extinction, the world agreed to a landmark deal in 2022 to protect biodiversity, including a pledge to protect 30 per cent of the world's natural ecosystems.

Countries will convene at the COP16 biodiversity summit in October in Colombia to work out the details of implementing the pledge.

In a letter shared exclusively with Reuters ahead of the talks, 132 companies with combined revenues of US$1.1 trillion (S$1.47 trillion) demanded stronger action.

Other companies that signed the call for action — on measures ranging from subsidy reform to water use and farming practises — include miner Teck Resources, food group Danone, energy company RWE and cement maker Holcim.

Humans are decimating wildlife by destroying native ecosystems, polluting nature and driving climate change.

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