Companies working in the field of tourism, such as the Sol Meliá hotel group, are starting to take biodiversity protection measures such as habitat restoration or endangered species protection not only for the objective of mitigating their ecological impacts, but also to differentiate their brand.
This project harnesses the byproducts of two production processes, using steel slag generated in steel production and waste woodchips from forestry, to restore coastal ecosystems affected by denuding.
Syncrude Canada Ltd., located in the Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, is the world’s largest producer of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single-source producer in Canada. It supplies about 13% of Canada’s oil requirements and has approximately 5 billion barrels of proven and probable reserves. Syncrude has a production capacity of 350,000 barrels per day with an expected capacity of 425,000 barrels per day by 2020. The company is a joint venture with seven partners, including Canadian Oil Sands Limited, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy, Nexen, ConocoPhillips, Mocal Energy and Murphy Oil. Syncrude is not traded directly, but rather through the individual partners. Syncrude employs more than 5,000 employees with an additional 1,500 contractors supporting its operations. Since start-up in 1978, Syncrude has made payments in excess of $10 billion for payroll and to governments for royalties, municipal taxes and other Crown charges.
Operating in a region in Mexico with high water scarcity risk, Volkswagen decided in 2008 to engage in a multistakeholder reforestation program in the region surrounding its factories to allow the ecosystem’s water provisioning function to be restored.
L’Oréal is a world leading cosmetics company created in 1909 in Paris, France. It employs 67,500 people in 130 countries and operates 42 factories and 63 warehouses around the world. In 2008, the company invested approximately $763 million Canadian in Research and Development. The company’s prestigious brand portfolio of over 25 brands encompasses all aspects of beauty. L’Oréal Canada was founded in 1958 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of L’Oréal Group. The company employs 1,200 people and in addition to its headquarters in Montreal, it operates a logistics center, a training center and an industrial facility which manufactures professional hair care products.
Highly dependent on water availability for its operations, Mondi leads a multi-stakeholder wetland restoration program in South Africa. The program has resulted in the loss of commercial forest for Mondi, a cost that is, nevertheless, part of the company’s social and environmental license to operate.
Owning large natural reserves as part of its forestry activities in Brazil, Fibria has chosen to register its most biodiverse lands as part of the Brazilian-specific Private Natural Heritage Reserves scheme. Recognition of Fibria’s conservation efforts is expected to further increase public and stakeholder awareness on company conservation activities.
Relying on the natural ingredients it sources in Brazil for its cosmetic product manufacturing and R&D, Natura has engaged in strong partnerships with local communities, who are not only compensated for the supply of raw ingredients, but also rewarded for their knowledge through benefit sharing.
Shell has been operating in Canada since 1911, and is now one of the country’s largest integrated oil and gas companies. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shell Canada employs more than 8,200 people across Canada and represented nearly a third of all global recruitment in 2008. Shell Canada holds approximately 30% of Royal Dutch Shell’s global resource base. A leading manufacturer, distributor and marketer of refined petroleum products, Shell produces natural gas, natural gas liquids and bitumen, and is Canada’s largest producer of sulphur. Shell is one of Canada’s largest oil sands developers.
We have implemented activities to protect as well as observe nature with a local non-profit organization (NPO) at the sprawling wetlands of Shigetomi, which belong to a beachside swim area of the same name nestled within Kagoshima Bay, popularly known as Kinko Bay.
This feature enables you to find case studies and best practices from companies that have taken an active approach to biodiversity and ecosystem management. By sharing their experiences, companies can communicate their initiatives to customers, suppliers, investors and other relevant stakeholders. The content can be browsed (below) or directly searched by keyword, country and sector.