Today, representatives from more than 150 countries adopted the IPBES Business & Biodiversity Assessment. The report compiles scientific methods to map the biodiversity impact and dependence of businesses. The message is clear: better collaboration between businesses and nature is both necessary and possible.
This is especially important for the core business, not just for the company's image. During the meeting, it was made clear that the loss of nature poses increasingly clear and significant risks. Therefore, it's crucial to explore new economic models, new instruments, and new ways of doing things.
First-ever overview of corporate impact and dependence on biodiversity
The new IPBES report systematically maps for the first time how companies can analyse their impact on and dependence on nature. This includes direct influences, such as in their own environment, and indirect influences through value chains. These direct dependencies apply not only to agriculture, which relies on natural processes like pollination, but also to sectors like chip production, which depends on cooling water, and tourism, which requires a healthy landscape. Because these companies are part of value chains, other companies also depend indirectly but crucially on nature elsewhere.
Several Dutch universities collaborated for over two years. Environmental economist at VU Amsterdam and lead author Marije Schaafsma: "Biodiversity loss, along with climate change, is the biggest long-term risk for business. This report establishes that companies must address these risks as quickly as possible, while governments and financial institutions must establish clear, sustainable frameworks."
All sectors are at risk
The report shows that biodiversity loss poses a risk to all sectors of the economy: employment, public health, and well-being. At the same time, current business models and economic strategies actually contribute to nature loss. Scientists have the knowledge and tools to take action now, but businesses need enabling conditions, such as clear regulations and incentives from the government and the financial sector. The report therefore outlines various options for action and emphasises the importance of collaboration with all societal partners: from governments and the financial sector to supporting SMEs, but also regarding customer consumption patterns and local integration in initiatives and neighborhoods.
Concrete perspectives
The Business and Biodiversity report offers not only a scientific problem analysis but also concrete action perspectives for companies, governments, financial institutions, and civil society organisations. The summary for policymakers helps reach political consensus on the implications. It is then up to the countries to implement these agreements, for example, through transparency requirements for companies or biodiversity-friendly construction. Business as usual is not an option: the risks are too great.
About IPBES
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is the global scientific body on biodiversity and ecosystem services, often described as "the IPCC for biodiversity." With more than 150 member countries, IPBES assesses the status of biodiversity and nature worldwide and offers policy options based on the best available knowledge.