For many years, Japanese companies have been actively working on environmental issues such as climate change and waste management. They have created many cutting-edge services, technologies and products, e.g. the hybrid car. Corporate eyes are looking at biodiversity ever more closely, as part of broader Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. In addition, the Japanese government has just started revising its National Biodiversity Strategy, in which business engagement has been identified as a key priority previous article.
A business and biodiversity tour In February this year, Biodiversity Network Japan (BDNJ), an NGO established in 1991, organized a series of meetings in Nagoya, Kyoto and Tokyo which convened representatives from business, government, academia, NGOs as well as the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The level of enthusiasm, from all sides, was remarkable and illustrates the evolution of the business and biodiversity scene in Japan since the publication of the Japanese edition of the Handbook for Corporate Action in late 2003 (1).
In Kyoto, Gekkeikan Sake Co., Ltd., a large sake brewer which has been operating since 1637, is actively working on conserving underground water resources, which the industry fundamentally depends on. Gekkeikan is not the only company working on conserving water. In fact, many other beverage and brewers in Japan have started addressing this issue by, for instance, conserving or establishing upstream forests.
Detergent manufacturer Saraya Co., Ltd realized that its supply chain and brand image was at risk through the use of palm oil as raw material for their products, since palm plantations are sometimes developed at the expense of valuable rain forest. In order to address this issue, the company joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (2), a platform established in order to pursue sustainable production and use of palm oil. The company also started a wounded elephant rescue project in Borneo, in cooperation with Sabah Wildlife Department. In addition, they set up a Borneo Conservation Trust in collaboration with Japanese wildlife experts in order to create a wildlife corridor connecting protected areas for elephants and orangutans.
Examples from office equipment… During a symposium organized in Tokyo by BDNJ and the Japanese Committee for IUCN, companies were provided with the opportunity to showcase different biodiversity practices as well as explain the ‘business case’ for doing so (3).
Mr. Harumitsu Mashiko, of office machine manufacturer Ricoh Company, Ltd., explained his company’s long-term corporate environment vision and some of its ongoing activities to address biodiversity. The company has set a goal to reduce its environmental impact from their operations in developed countries by 1/8th by 2050. With this long term vision, Ricoh is now trying to reduce CO2 emissions by 12% by 2010, compared to its emissions in 2000. In addition to reducing its impact to the environment, Ricoh recognizes the importance of maintaining and enhancing global ecosystem functions. This is the reason why the company is actively supporting various forest ecosystem conservation projects globally.
Another area the company has been actively working on is environmental education for employees. As stressed by Mr. Mashiko: “it is impossible for a single country or organization to solve a global challenge like biodiversity loss. More people should think and act and we would like to support such efforts”. Established in 1999, the company’s voluntary environmental leaders programme aims at educating and increasing the number of environmental leaders within the company, in collaboration with NGOs and experts in the field.
…to construction Mr. Yoriyuki Yamada, of construction company Kajima Corporation, articulated the rationale for his company to engage in biodiversity, highlighting risks such as project delays and increased construction costs. In the past, the company had been faced with such issues as a result of using inappropriate invasive species, the introduction of alien firefly into ponds, and the inappropriate design of amphibian tunnels. All these resulted in significant delays in construction and increased costs.
At the same time, the company realizes the increasing business opportunities in which healthy ecosystem services create added value. The company has, in fact, already worked on several nature restoration projects.
In order to institutionalize biodiversity into business practice, in 2005, the company developed Ecosystem Conservation Guidelines. “It was a natural course of action in order to respond to the stakeholders’ expectation” said Mr. Yamada. Under these guidelines, the company started to develop various tools and technologies, such as an ecosystem information intranet, ecosystem analysis system, ecosystem monitoring tool using GPS technology, and various nature restoring construction technologies. “We continue to strengthen integration of biodiversity into our business practice in collaboration with governments and NGOs from the long term perspective” concluded Mr. Yamada.
…and oil & gas Ms. Hiromi Barada of BP Japan, mentioned that the company’s environmental policy is not only pursuing compliance with existing laws and regulations but also doing more to realize responsible operation. In addition, for those issues which cannot be solved alone, like biodiversity or climate change, the company engages with peers in the industry and beyond. “Without healthy biodiversity, human being cannot survive nor does our business” Ms. Barada said.
She then reviewed the biodiversity components of the Tangguh LNG project in Indonesia. This was the first project to be undertaken in the context of the company’s biodiversity action plan as well as within the framework of the good practice guidelines released by the Energy and Biodiversity Initiative (4). “About 10 years ago, when we found this gas field, there was no data on biodiversity. We had to start collecting basic data, in collaboration with local universities, government, NGOs and local communities” she said.
Ms. Barada also highlighted the Serpent project (5) in which BP is working together with marine biologists, to explore deep-sea marine organisms, using a Remote Operated Vehicle. “This project does not only benefit the biologists but we can also get plenty of knowledge of the marine environment where we are operating”.
Mr. Reiji Kamezawa of the Ministry of the Environment explained current efforts to engage with the business community in the context of the revision of the National Biodiversity Strategy: “In the past strategies, there was only a small portion addressing the private sector, partly because it was a government plan and partly because we were not fully aware of the importance of the business and biodiversity linkage”.
In view of the adoption of Decision VIII/17, business engagement has become one of the top priorities for the Strategy. “Our economic activities are still depending on biodiversity in many ways, such as plant breeding and new medicine development in the pharmaceutical industry. Even the design of the Japanese super express train is inspired by the design of the kingfisher’s beak!” said Mr. Kamezawa.
A separate meeting was also held with the Nippon Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation, which is a subsidiary body of Nippon Keidanren, Japan’s largest business federation. Since 1991, the Committee has been managing Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund and investing in a significant number of conservation projects all over the world. The Committee is collaborating closely with the government to identify good biodiversity practices in member companies. Ready This evidence clearly shows that Japanese companies are ready to work on biodiversity. The fact that the Japanese government has offered to host the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2010 provides an additional opportunity for Japanese companies to show leadership in good biodiversity practice.
At BDNJ, we look forward to help organize additional business and biodiversity platforms in the run-up to this very important event. We also look forward to showcasing progress on business in biodiversity at COP-9.
Naoya Furuta is member and Focal for business,
Biodiversity Network Japan. For more information:
info@bdnj.org
(1)
Business and Biodiversity Handbook (2)
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (3)
http://www.bdnj.org/b&b_sympo_feb2007.pdf (4)
The Energy and Biodiversity Initiative (5)
http://www.serpentproject.com