Business and biodiversity assessment
At IPBES 10 in 2023, the IPBES Plenary approved the undertaking of a methodological assessment of the impact and dependency of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people (business and biodiversity assessment).
Scope and rationale
The methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people will strengthen the knowledge base to support efforts by business to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The assessment will support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, and inform other relevant multilateral environmental agreements, processes and efforts.
The assessment will categorize the dependencies and impacts of business and financial institutions on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, which incorporates ecosystem services and other analogous concepts, including in relation to indigenous peoples and local communities. It will assess methods for measuring direct dependencies and impacts and, where appropriate, indirect dependencies and impacts, and will assess options for actions by businesses and by others, including Governments, the financial sector, indigenous peoples and local communities, and civil society, that interact with business.
Businesses depend on and benefit from biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people in various ways and to varying extents and have a range of positive and negative impacts on both biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. Engaging businesses and the financial sector is essential to address conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Improved understanding and awareness of the dependencies and impacts of businesses, throughout value chains, on biodiversity, and improved approaches for measurement, are important for businesses to understand the variety of relevant risks and opportunities, and to assess and monitor performance. Improved understanding and systematic reporting are important for promoting accountability and transparency, improving producer and consumer knowledge of impacts and dependencies, developing an enabling policy environment, informing regulatory agencies, and guiding financing decisions and investments, taking into account, where relevant, existing international obligations. Improved understanding of the role of innovation, technological development and application are important to support the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Initiatives have emerged to support these efforts, and this assessment can help bring clarity to potential conflicts and relevant gaps in approaches for measurement in the context of different activities and sectors.
Efforts to improve consistency in measures of dependencies and impacts will need to account for region-specific and sector-specific challenges, including those faced by developing countries. These efforts will also need to consider the capacity, technical and technological differences among businesses, including micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as those of indigenous peoples and local communities and marginalized populations. Standardized and business-specific approaches for measurement and reporting can be important for efficient, effective, transparent, and robust environmental governance.
At IPBES 9 (July 2023), the IPBES Plenary approved the undertaking of a methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.
Timeline
The assessment is being conducted using a fast track approach, and will be completed in 2025 and considered by the Plenary at its 12th session.