A recent article from a popular daily newspaper in Malaysia caught my attention. It argued that businesses, large and small, are provided with enormous opportunities to make better profits in dealing with climate change mitigation as well as biodiversity conservation. It cites the possibilities to do better business by using the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for energy efficiency as well as undertaking conservation projects using CDM-like opportunities.
I was drawn to the article more because the author was a free lance journalist than a climate change specialist or a conservationist.
The arguments Discussions relating to the engagement of business with conservation and climate change still seem to focus, to a large extent, on how to communicate conservation action to the business community, that is, making the ‘business case’.
The business community is affected by climate change and conservation action through a series of issues (1) that relate to:
Regulation and implementation of legal instruments, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); Science and technology innovation — hydrogen economy and fusion energy; Business mitigation strategies — increased efficiency of products; Human consumption growth — dependence on population growth and politics; Clarification of predictive models and development of appropriate management strategies — dependence on application of scientific research.
Each of the above considerations is critical for our arguments on how to engage better with business.
Another dimension on partnering with business relates to the need to provide an economic argument that provides not just the economic implications of conservation and/or climate change actions but the market values of such actions. Issues such as payment for environmental services (PES) need more emphasis not just on assessing the economic values or potential of biodiversity for human development but the ‘real’ market values. In the absence of such a link, it is going to be difficult to translate the value of ecosystems into economic gains.
Another argument that relates to business and biodiversity comes from some stories of success using the CDM. Increasingly, analyses of CDM applications seem to favour both environmental managers as well as the business community. We need to identify such models for conservation action also. Recent trends in the number of private sector companies and consultants engaged in CDM related activities demonstrate the potential for such options in both developed and developing countries.
Making the links Market mechanisms such as carbon trading seem to provide some answers to mitigating climate change and reducing green house gas (GHG) emissions. However, the challenge is to ensure that countries emitting more GHGs simply do not invest in buying the credits rather than investing in technologies and products that reduce such emissions.
Ecosystems and climate change are closely interrelated. The recently released fourth assessment report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demonstrates the increasing negative impacts of climate change on ecosystems and human well-being. The projections of climate change impacts on accelerating biodiversity loss, changing productivity and growing zones of vegetation, causing sea level rise, and expanding the prevalence of pests and diseases such as malaria and dengue are being confirmed through various national and regional status reports on environment and development.
Studies by UNDP indicate that intervening anthropogenic and natural environmental disasters are a powerful threat to human development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Natural disasters cause more than economic and infrastructure damages; they also disrupt the social fabric, leading to social capital losses, affecting and reversing the gains of MDGs.
Seizing opportunities Climate change poses significant risks to business as well. These include reduced availability of raw materials such as water, wood and other natural products as well as reduction of agricultural production levels, decreased efficiency of production systems through raising costs and adoption of mitigation strategies and increased operating costs due to restrictions on doing business due to social and political decisions.
Climate change also provides opportunities for new business or diversification, including development of products that are energy efficient, products or services that emit less GHGs, alternate options for fossil fuels and the related. By seizing these opportunities, companies can strengthen their reputation as well as their brands. Such opportunities include:
Packages for bioremediation based on changes in soil structure and composition, as well as waste management options; Agricultural engineering options for changing agronomic needs; Better irrigation and soil conservation products and services; Pharmaceutical products and delivery mechanisms for primary health care; Energy efficient cooking, cooling and heating systems; Cheap transportation and fuel options; and Options that reduce energy usage and increase resilience.
Celebrating biodiversity Realising the need to secure high-level support from policy makers and the business community on developing national level implementable strategies to link business, biodiversity and climate change, the United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) is convening a Roundtable discussion on 23rd May 2007 in Yokohama to commemorate the International Day for Biological Diversity.
The focus of the meeting is to assess the opportunities that exist to link the sectors and take stock on ongoing national activities in Japan. A significant amount of the discussion will focus on developing action plans at national and sectoral levels to ensure business and biodiversity links are strengthened. It is expected that the outcomes will help developing work programmes in the future.
There seems to be a gap when considering the opportunities and challenges conservation and climate change provides to business as well as issues policy makers and stakeholders need to consider for better engagement with companies.
Finding help To deal with this, we could consider the possibility of establishing a ‘business clinic’ that would bring together business and specialists in technology development and deployment and conservationists during COP-9.
The purpose of these ‘clinics’ will be to provide participants at the COP with a meeting and discussion opportunity with business on issues and challenges relating to furthering the engagement of business in conservation efforts. These ‘clinics’ will be serviced by senior and experienced business leaders who have proven skills and interest in dealing with conservation action and will feature several success stories and lessons learned using a range of options like: roundtables, one-to-one meetings, poster displays and possible role-plays on negotiations and dealing with issues of doing business, and discussions with research and the academic community on how to engage them in designing programmes to attract the attention of business schools.
The ‘clinics’ could run for at least one week, full-time, during the COP, culminating in a possible high-level ‘Business — Policy’ Roundtable during the Ministerial segment of the COP.
Depending on the outcomes, a presentation could be planned for the next meeting of the World Economic Forum (Davos, Switzerland) in securing better attention on the linkages between business and biodiversity. A special session on ‘business and biodiversity’ could also be convened as a part of the UNFCCC COP-13 (December 2007, Bali, Indonesia).
Balakrishna Pisupati is Coordinator, Biodiplomacy Programme,
United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies.
(1) Source:
Business and Biodiversity.org