Engagement between Business and Biodiversity
- What’s in it for the private sector?
- What are the benefits for companies of working with IUCN?
- Why forge partnerships with the private sector?
- How does IUCN forge these partnerships?
Private sector should be concerned about environmental degradation and in particular the loss of biodiversity because nature provides the foundation and service for raw material for industrial production, commerce and trade. The results of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment identified six interconnected challenges that are of particular concerns for businesses as these affect the integrity of ecosystems and their capacity to provide key services (namely provisioning of goods such as food, fiber and water; regulating biophysical processes; cultural services providing recreation, aesthetic or spiritual values; and supporting processes such as soil formation, nutrient cycling etc).
Key challenges are water scarcity, climate change, habitat change, biodiversity loss and invasive species, overexploitation of oceans and nutrient overloading.
By addressing their environmental footprint, companies will also be able to manage risk and open new opportunities. In particular they would:
- Increase revenue by responding to an increased consumers’ demand for responsible products
- Obtain the license to operate by addressing civil society’s concerns at local and global levels
- Preserve and enhance the “natural,” capital (including the capacity to provide ecosystem services)
- Attract and retain talented staff/people, increasing environmental credentials and values of companies
- Improve the quality of products and services
- Pre-empt regulations and public pressure
- Make cost savings by a more efficient use of natural resources
- Improve access to financial capital
All these are benefits clearly linked to a company’s bottom line.
What are the benefits for companies of working with IUCN?
Private sector companies value and call fo IUCN’s support in:
- Convening multi stakeholders discussions around critical and contentious issues
- Providing state of the art science
- Networking with different constituencies
- Developing policy standards
- Accessing the policy arena
- Exploring new tools for the integration of biodiversity
- Facilitating, implementation of companies policies in various parts of the world, drawing on IUCN global presence and outreach
Why forge partnerships with the private sector?
Partnerships with the private sector can be instrumental for IUCN in:
- Addressing the root causes of environmental degradation linked to private sector operations. Example: Shell, Holcim, ICMM
- Supporting the implementation of conservation projects by providing know how, access to networks and market links. Example: Unilever, WBCSD
- Generating products helpful to decision making tools in the private sector. Example: The Red List Corporate Support Group
How do we engage with the Private Sector? (Plus: Operational guidelines for Private Sector Engagement , in English, French and Spanish)
How does IUCN forge these partnerships?
IUCN vision and strategy for Private Sector Engagement
IUCN’s Council in 2004 endorsed a “ Strategy for Enhancing IUCN Interaction with the Private Sector” the strategy envisions a sustainable global economy in which businesses are committed and effective partners in achieving a just world that values and conserves nature. The goals of the strategy are:
- A conservation community that is well informed about market mechanisms and understands their potential and limitations to achieve biodiversity conservation
- A more accountable private sector which contributes to sustainable development including conservation and social equity
- Effective dialogue and collaboration between IUCN and the private sector which helps to achieve conservation through and alongside sustainable development
The role of IUCN – in line with its general mandate – is then to influence, encourage and assist businesses to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable, efficient and ecologically sustainable.
On these premises and not withstanding the “principles of engagement”, IUCN as a priority engages business where change is most important and urgent due to the scale of their impact on the environment and social equity, or where change is most likely based on commitment of the company and its leadership, or where greatest potential exists for a company to positively contribute to environment. To this end, four business categories have been identified:
- Biodiversity dependent industries (fishing, agriculture, forestry ..)
- Large ‘footprint’ industries (mining, oil & gas, construction, automotive ..)
- Financial services (banking, insurance and other financial intermediaries)
- “Green” enterprises (organic farming, nature based tourism …)
To complement and support this strategy, the 3 rd IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2004 adopted two specific resolutions providing further direction on IUCN’s private sector engagement, including the request to develop guidelines for engaging with the private sector, strengthening the principles of engagement.
Accordingly, “Operational guidelines for private sector engagement” were issued in 2006, building on a survey of existing guidelines for not-for-profit / private sector interactions and on existing IUCN experiences in engaging with the private sector. The Guidelines aim at providing a common framework for the IUCN Secretariat on how to approach private sector companies. The areas addressed by the Guidelines include among others the approval and decision making process; the identification, prioritization and selection of private sector companies; risk management and due diligence.
Responding to growing challenges to biodiversity linked to private sector operations, IUCN has adopted a number of tools to support its growing commitment to work with the private sector to address these.
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