Strengthening business involvement for biodiversity through a working group built on trust and collaboration

CF UICN
Published: 25 June 2020
Last edited: 25 June 2020
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Summary

In June 2009, the IUCN French Committee created a multi-stakeholder working group called “Business and Biodiversity” that brings together French IUCN Members and IUCN experts with the business partners of the French IUCN Committee from different sectors (energy, waste and water, cosmetics and aggregates) to find better solutions for biodiversity. This working group contributes to the development of studies and tools on different subjects such as creating and enhancing awareness among employees on biodiversity issues, corporate reporting on biodiversity, and invasive alien species management on production sites and headquarters.

Classifications

Region
West and South Europe
Scale of implementation
National
Ecosystem
Area-wide development
Buildings and facilities
Connective infrastructure, networks and corridors
Freshwater ecosystems
Green spaces (parks, gardens, urban forests)
Pool, lake, pond
Urban ecosystem and build environment
Urban wetlands
Theme
Biodiversity mainstreaming
Extractives
Legal & policy frameworks
Outreach & communications
Standards/ certification
Water provision and management
Challenges
Loss of Biodiversity
Lack of access to long-term funding
Lack of public and decision maker’s awareness
Sustainable development goals
SDG 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals
Aichi targets
Target 1: Awareness of biodiversity increased
Target 2: Biodiversity values integrated
Target 4: Sustainable production and consumption
Target 5: Habitat loss halved or reduced
Target 9: Invasive alien species prevented and controlled
Target 17: Biodiversity strategies and action plans
Business engagement approach
Direct engagement with a company
Direct engagement with associations
Indirect through government

Location

Paris, France

Challenges

While the private sector is increasingly putting in place practices to reduce its impacts on biodiversity and restore ecosystems, it is important to support them to ensure and reinforce the efficiency of their strategies and actions. Therefore, an open space of dialogue is needed between different stakeholders to share views, discuss and identify the best solutions for biodiversity.

Beneficiaries

The working group brings together IUCN members (NGOs and representatives of the French governement), IUCN experts and the French Committee's business partners (EDF, Engie, Storengy, Veolia, Primagaz, L'Occitane, HeidelbergCement France and Eqiom).

How do the building blocks interact?

The IUCN French Committee organizes and brings together the members of the working group several times a year, thus creating a space of dialogue between its participants. These meetings are an opportunity for each member (state representatives, NGOs, companies) to share their opinions, ideas, skills on biodiversity issues. 

The synergies emerging from these exchanges favor efficient changes towards common objectives. They can result in publications of studies and tools for a better consideration of biodiversity by the private sector. 

Impacts

This working group brings together diverse stakeholders and produces materials. This way of working, based upon cooperation and collaboration allows the stakeholders to build efficient and operational solutions. It fastens the integration of biodiversity issues in business strategies and actions. It also enables each party to understand the reality of others: the hurdles, the goals, the effective leverages and the resources. 

The outcomes of its reflections are widely shared to spread solutions, tools, and studies to reduce the impacts on biodiversity. 

So far, the working group released 6 publications which were widely shared. The latest 3 are:

  • Corporate biodiversity reporting and indicators: situation analysis and recommendations

  • Raising awareness and mobilizing employees for biodiversity  

  • Invasive alien species on business sites

Contributed by

fanny.brunstein_38732's picture

Florence Clap IUCN French Committee

Other contributors

French IUCN Committee
French IUCN Committee