17 October, 2025

Businesses are getting better at talking about nature. Discussions are framed in terms of resources, risks, and dependencies, with forests as carbon sinks, rivers as assets, and biodiversity as ecosystem services. But what if nature could join these conversations and speak for itself? 

This is the idea behind the Interspecies Council, a creative governance tool that challenges typical human-centric assumptions often baked into decision-making and policy writing. Instead of seeing nature as something to manage, it invites people to imagine what it might mean to share power with it. Participants step into the roles of non-human beings – be it birds, slugs, fungi, or even entire ecosystems – to introduce new perspectives and ways of knowing into the conversation. Listening to these voices is not just imaginative, it provides a way to strengthen decision-making in meaningful, lasting ways.  

It may sound aspirational, but it reflects a wider shift in how we think about nature’s value. The IPBES has called for an increased recognition of the plural values of nature, looking beyond its market or instrumental worth, to cultural, relational, and intrinsic values. These intrinsic values are held by the non-human beings whose voices are usually absent from decision-making. Similarly, academics are exploring how those values might fit into conservation, policy, and biodiversity credits. The next frontier? Bringing that thinking into business. 

The Interspecies Council isn’t just about pretending to be a duck. It’s about stretching our imagination so that strategy, innovation, and governance can account for the wider living systems we depend on and helping businesses thrive in ways that are sustainable and resilient. So next time you’re mapping your stakeholders, pause for a moment and ask: which species would attend your meeting, and what might they say? 

By Hillevi Fock