The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business

 

In July, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business report was released. TEEB for Business focuses on a major component of TEEB aimed at the business community. This report is for a wide array of enterprises, including those with direct impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, such as mining, oil and gas and infrastructure; for those businesses that depend on healthy ecosystems and biodiversity for production, such as agriculture and fisheries; for industry sectors that finance and undergird economic activity and growth, like banks and asset managers, as well as insurance and business services; and for businesses that are selling ecosystem services or biodiversity-related products such as eco-tourism, eco-agriculture and bio-carbon. The report sets out the business case for biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). Therefore it begins with a review of some key indicators and drivers of biodiversity loss and ecosystem decline, and shows how this presents both risks and opportunities to business. It also examines the changing preferences of consumers for nature-friendly products and services, and offers some examples of how companies are responding.

Further on, the report investigates the status of and trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES), and the BES impacts and dependencies of different business sectors. In the next chapters the report provides description of recent initiatives to enable businesses to measure, value and report their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and outline further work needed in this area. In addition, the report identifies practical tools to manage BES risks and shows how companies are using these tools to deliver business value, illustrated with many examples.

Then the reports highlights some emerging business models that deliver biodiversity benefits and ecosystem services on a commercial basis, and reviews the enabling frameworks needed to stimulate private investment and entrepreneurship to realize such opportunities, as well as obstacles. Afterwards, the report reviews how business can align their actions in relation to biodiversity and ecosystem services with wider corporate social responsibility initiatives, including community engagement and poverty reduction.

Finally, the report concludes with a review of business and biodiversity initiatives and an agenda for action by business as well as other stakeholders.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global study, initiated by the G8 and five major developing economies and focusing on ‘the global economic benefit of biological diversity, the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the failure to take protective measures versus the costs of effective conservation’. TEEB makes the case for integrating the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services in decision-making. The TEEB for Business is the Third Deliverable in the framework of the study, following the TEEB for International and National Policy-makers, which was published in 2009. The TEEB for Local Policy-makers and Administrators is expected in September 2010.

TEEB for Business Report: Executive Summary (PDF) 

Source: TEEB Project