Business and Biodiversity

Why is this relevant?

All businesses, regardless of size, sector and location, ultimately depend on biodiversity. Whilst businesses can have a major direct and indirect impact on biodiversity, they also possess biodiversity relevant knowledge, technical resources and managerial skills. In turn, how companies manage biodiversity is, increasingly, seen as relevant to their bottom line performance.

Business under the Convention

Business is explicitly referred to in the Convention text (i.e. in articles 10 and 16), in many COP decisions adopted over the years, and in the Convention’s Strategic Plan. Many of the Convention's Programmes of Work are directly relevant to business.

At its eighth meeting (Curitiba, Brazil, 20-31 March 2006), the Conference of the Parties reiterated the importance of engaging the business community in the implementation of the Convention. Decision VIII/17, the first to focus exclusively on business, covers the engagement of Parties with the business community when developing and implementing national biodiversity strategies and action plans; the participation of business in Convention processes; the compilation, dissemination and strengthening of the ‘business case’ for biodiversity; and the compilation and development of good biodiversity practice.

A growing agenda

Since COP-8, the business and biodiversity agenda has been receiving an increasing amount of attention. It has been included, for instance, in the Potsdam initiative (March 2007), the Biodiversity Communication of the European Commission (May 2006) and the Biodiversity Agenda of the EU Presidencies of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia (November 2007).

The Lisbon Declaration was also adopted in November 2007, as an outcome of the High Level Conference on Business and Biodiversity, organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union (EU) Council. In preparation to COP-9, Germany also hosted, in April 2008, a conference on business and biodiversity.

G8 Environment Ministers adopted, in May 2008, the Kobe Call for Action for Biodiversity to call upon all countries to work together to promote, in the area of private sector engagement, the following actions: Strengthen global initiatives and fora promoting dialogue, cooperation and joint activities among various stakeholders including the business sector, NGOs and researchers, such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Global Biodiversity Forum; Work to mainstream the concept of biodiversity in society through, where appropriate, developing partnership with the private sector and extending exchanges of information about successful experiences and practice; Encourage corporate social responsibility, with a view to making the private sector a full partner in biodiversity conservation, and promote enabling environments for private investment in sustainable management of biodiversity.

Pursuant to Decision VIII/17, the Secretariat has, in particular, compiled information on the 'business case' for biodiversity as well as good practice guidance in a range of sectors. Since October 2006, the Secretariat has also published a newsletter on business and biodiversity to accompany the implementation of decision VIII/17.

For a more detailed overview of business and biodiversity since COP-8, see document UNEP/CBD/COP/9/21/Add.1.