Media specials
In this section you will find an overview of special editions and thematic specials on biodiversity and ecosystem services from leading European and international business magazines.
Special edition - forum CSR international (01/2010)
Celebrating the International Year on Biodiversity, Germany's top business magazine "
forum CSR international" published a special issue "The Business Case for Biodiversity". Its German language sister magazine "forum Nachhaltig Wirtschaften" followed with a thematic "special" on "Business and Biodiversity" (2/2010).
The quarterly forum magazines are published jointly by Altop publishing and the German Environmental Management Association, (B.A.U.M. e.V.) which has over 500 business member. (Circulation 30.000 copies)
You can download the full magazines here:
Below you can find a selection of interesting articles from the special edition of "forum CSR international".
Reading the articles will let you ...
- find out why Europe's Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potočnik locates the crisis of biodiversity on the same level of the business agenda as climate change
- explore the business case for biodiversity together with IUCNs chief economist Sebastian Winkler (Senior European Policy Advisor, IUCN)
- understand why James Griffiths (Managing Director, WBCSD) believes that making a business case for corporate action on ecosystems makes so much sense to businesses of all sizes and kind.
Featured Articles
The business case for biodiversity
The United Nations has declared this year as the International Year of Biodiversity. Will biodiversity, like climate change, therefore be increasingly on the agendas of boardroom meetings in 2010, and if so, why?
Making the business case for corporate action on ecosystems
During 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, some of the world’s largest companies are working with the WBCSD to take informed measures to manage natural resource consumption in a sustainable manner. Others are seeking to reduce pollution as part of environmental management systems. Many of these actions are corporate social responsibility activities as opposed to meeting legal requirements. And many yield benefits for business’ bottom line ...
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Business
Most people have heard about climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and it is fast becoming part of normal business practice. Similarly, more people today are aware of the risks of biodiversity loss and the decline of ecosystem services. In short, the value of nature is changing, and business needs to change accordingly. There is increasing need for sustainable business models that conserve and restore ecosystems while meeting people’s needs ...
Business and biodiversity. The case for safeguarding profitability and reputation
The UNs International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 presents a great opportunity for businesses from all sectors to take stock of their biodiversity commitments. Globally, governments and the conservation community are busy compiling the evidence to demonstrate that we are facing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity. Indeed, now we are also aware that we have failed to meet the target of the Convention on Biological Diversity, set to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. If we continue with our business-as-usual, we are also likely to miss the 2015 environmental targets within the UN Millennium Development Goals to improve health and livelihoods for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
Biodiversity is subject of the World Future Council’s Future Policy Award 2010
Biodiversity, the variety of life, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on.
Women and men are part of nature’s rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it. Human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate. These losses are irreversible, impoverish us all and damage the life support systems we rely on everyday. But we can prevent them.
Biodiversity in Good Company. Business and Biodiversity Initiative
Worldwide, nature is suffering from an alarming and quickly advancing loss of biodiversity, species, and ecosystems that is endangering the livelihood of mankind on a global scale. One of the key questions that we need to address – and soon need to answer – is how to achieve the ideal combination of both using and protecting biodiversity
A guide to business and biodiversity
There is a long history of private sector support for nature. Over the past years, a new development has taken place from mere sponsorship for nature conservation projects to a more holistic approach because there is a business case for biodiversity. As a result, there is an increasing number of business and biodiversity initiatives with varying geographical and sector-specific scopes ...
Biodiversity - The next litmus test for the accounting profession
‘What gets measured gets attention and can be managed’ is one of the most stressed sentences in meetings, literature and conferences. Now the difficult part: are we still measuring the right ‘what’? For more than a century accountants have worked on streamlining data for the purpose of financial management and reporting, following the existing paradigm that optimizing shareholder value is in the end the single purpose of business ...
Green jobs linked to biodiversity conservation
The importance of diversity to human society is hard to overstate. An estimated 40 percent of the global economy is based on biological products and processes. Last January, speaking at the launch of the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity in Berlin, UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, said that "the words biodiversity and ecosystems might seem abstract and remote to many people, but there is nothing abstract about their role in economies and in the lives of billions of people”.
Pro-biodiversity business: a new landscape of opportunity
There are two ways in which business relates to Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES). Firstly, companies depend on BES, e.g. on the existence of healthy forests and seas for the provision of commodities like fish and timber, on bees for the pollination of flowers or fruit trees, and on freshwater sources for the provision of drinking and irrigation water. Secondly, economic activities affect BES, e.g. through land conversion, overexploitation and pollution. This threatens the provision and use of BES in the long-term. When talking about the impact of business on BES, the focus tends to be on the negative side. However, corporate action can also enhance biodiversity. This article will explain in which way business can have a positive impact on BES.
Landscape Auctions. A new conservation finance instrument
As part of the EU co-financed Business and Biodiversity Campaign "Landscape Auctions" will be organized within several European countries. The landscape auctions will bring business and biodiversity into practice: Who bids more?
Biodiversity is everywhere
When we have a look at what has already been done concerning biodiversity by big corporations and SMEs, we as consumers – and even more as professional journalists – often fall into the trap of focussing on what has not been done. Pressure by stakeholders is still necessary, but we at forum are convinced that even small steps into the right direction do count. Instead of blaming the bad guys, let us appreciate the steps that have already been taken.
Colorful diversity right on the company’s doorstep.
Company sites close to nature as a first step towards operational biodiversity management. Monotonous green and concrete grey are usually the prominent colours of industrial sites and business parks. But businesses have numerous possibilities to enhance this colour palette, and turn their premises into a natural paradise.
Revitalizing landscapes.
Businesses helping to restore natural biotope in Netherlands. Pro-biodiversity entrepreneurs taking the stage in the Netherlands.
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The project is supported through LIFE, a programme of the European Union.