Changing business perceptions regarding biodiversity: from impact mitigation towards new strategies and practices

Business activities play a major role in biodiversity loss and, as a result, firms are under increasing pressures from stakeholders to reduce their negative impacts on living systems. In response, business attitudes, behaviors and strategies regarding biodiversity are progressively changing, suggesting that interactions between business and biodiversity could go beyond the search of a compromise between development and conservation. This paper proposes an analysis of business perceptions regarding biodiversity. In its first part, we discuss how biodiversity is usually perceived as an external environmental constraint on business activities, and how economic tools may be used for arbitrages in that context. Building upon our work on the Business and Biodiversity Interdependence Indicator (BBII), we then discuss how assessing a firm's interdependences with biodiversity may bring about new business strategies and practices. We propose a typology of firm behavior regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES), discuss business opportunities and property rights issues pertaining to markets for ecosystem services and propose preliminary conceptual foundations of new business standards needed to reverse current biodiversity trends.biodiversity; business; strategy; payments for ecosystem services; impact mitigation; standards.

Accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a business perspective

Biodiversity refers to the dynamics of interactions between organisms in changing environments. Within the context of accelerating biodiversity loss worldwide, firms are under increasing pressures from stakeholders to develop appropriate tools to account for the nature and consequences of their actions, inclusive of their influences on ecosystem services used by other agents. This paper presents a two-pronged approach towards accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a business perspective. First, we seek to analyze how Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) may be used by firms to identify and account for the interactions between their activities and biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). To that end, we use dairy farming as a case study and propose general recommendations regarding accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a management accounting perspective. Secondly, after discussing the corporate reporting implications of the main environmental accounting approaches, we propose the underlying principles and structural components of a Biodiversity Accountability Framework (BAF) which would combine both financial and BES data sets; hence, suggesting the need for changes in business accounting and reporting standards. Because this would imply significant changes in business information systems and corporate rating practices, we also underline the importance of making the associated technological, organizational and institutional innovations financially viable. The BAF should be designed as an information base, coconstructed with stakeholders, for setting up and managing new modes of regulation combining tools for mitigating BES loss and remunerating BES supply.Accounting, business, biodiversity, ecosystem services, indicators, management accounting, financial accounting, reporting, corporate social responsibility, standards, biodiversity accountability framework.

Changing business perceptions regarding biodiversity: from impact mitigation towards new strategies and practices

Business activities play a major role in biodiversity loss and, as a result, firms are under increasing pressures from stakeholders to reduce their negative impacts on living systems. In response, business attitudes, behaviors and strategies regarding biodiversity are progressively changing, suggesting that interactions between business and biodiversity could go beyond the search of a compromise between development and conservation. This paper proposes an analysis of business perceptions regarding biodiversity. In its first part, we discuss how biodiversity is usually perceived as an external environmental constraint on business activities, and how economic tools may be used for arbitrages in that context. Building upon our work on the Business and Biodiversity Interdependence Indicator (BBII), we then discuss how assessing a firm's interdependences with biodiversity may bring about new business strategies and practices. We propose a typology of firm behavior regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES), discuss business opportunities and property rights issues pertaining to markets for ecosystem services and propose preliminary conceptual foundations of new business standards needed to reverse current biodiversity trends

Accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a business perspective: Preliminary guidelines towards a biodiversity accountability framework

Biodiversity refers to the dynamics of interactions between organisms in changing environments. Within the context of accelerating biodiversity loss worldwide, firms are under increasing pressures from stakeholders to develop appropriate tools to account for the nature and consequences of their actions, inclusive of their influences on ecosystem services used by other agents. This paper presents a two-pronged approach towards accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a business perspective. First, we seek to analyze how Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) may be used by firms to identify and account for the interactions between their activities and biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). To that end, we use dairy farming as a case study and propose general recommendations regarding accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a management accounting perspective. Secondly, after discussing the corporate reporting implications of the main environmental accounting approaches, we propose the underlying principles and structural components of a Biodiversity Accountability Framework (BAF) which would combine both financial and BES data sets; hence, suggesting the need for changes in business accounting and reporting standards. Because this would imply significant changes in business information systems and corporate rating practices, we also underline the importance of making the associated technological, organizational and institutional innovations financially viable. The BAF should be designed as an information base, coconstructed with stakeholders, for setting up and managing new modes of regulation combining tools for mitigating BES loss and remunerating BES supply

Valuing nature’s contributions to people: the IPBES approach

Nature is perceived and valued in starkly different and often conflicting ways. This paper presents the rationale for the inclusive valuation of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in decision making, as well as broad methodological steps for doing so. While developed within the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), this approach is more widely applicable to initiatives at the knowledge–policy interface, which require a pluralistic approach to recognizing the diversity of values. We argue that transformative practices aiming at sustainable futures would benefit from embracing such diversity, which require recognizing and addressing power relationships across stakeholder groups that hold different values on human nature-relations and NCP

Entreprises, biodiversité et services écosystémiques. Quelles interactions et stratégies? Quelles comptabilités?

Firms play major roles in biodiversity loss and are under increasing social pressures to mitigate their impacts. Within this context, our PhD thesis aims to propose new conceptual frameworks and tools so as to reconcile ecology and economy. In its first part, we analyze the strategic behaviors of firms with respect to their interactions with biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). If the latter are often perceived as sources of legal constraints and additional costs, we underline the multiple advantages that firms may gain by assessing and managing their interdependencies with living systems. In the second part, we focus our attention on the innovations necessary to the onset of dynamics of co-viability between business and biodiversity, and, more precisely, on the development of new indicators. Two work streams are explored. Through various case studies, we first formalize an accounting framework for managing business interactions with BES, associating costs and revenues with BES data sets. We then present the underlying principles and structural components of a Biodiversity Accountability Framework which would target stakeholders, towards standardized guidelines for reporting corporate performance regarding BES. Although the widespread use of these accounting tools would require further research, we emphasize that their institutionalization would be critical to setting up and managing new modes of regulation combining economic tools for mitigating BES loss and remunerating BES supply.Depuis quelques années, les entreprises subissent des pressions grandissantes pour mitiger leurs impacts sur la biodiversité. Notre thèse a pour objectif de leur proposer de nouveaux cadres conceptuels et outils pour réconcilier économie et écologie. Dans la première partie, nous analysons les comportements stratégiques des firmes par rapport à leurs interactions avec la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques (BSE). Si ces derniers sont souvent perçus comme sources de contraintes, notamment réglementaires, nous soulignons les multiples intérêts pour l'entreprise d'une gestion fine de son interdépendance au monde vivant. Dans la seconde partie, nous nous intéressons aux innovations nécessaires à l'émergence de dynamiques de co-viabilité entre firmes et biodiversité, et, en particulier, à la construction de nouveaux indicateurs. Deux axes de travail complémentaires sont explorés. Via plusieurs études de cas, nous formalisons tout d'abord un cadre de comptabilité analytique pour gérer les interactions de l'entreprise avec les BSE. Ensuite, nous présentons les fondements conceptuels d'une comptabilité visant à rendre compte aux parties prenantes de la performance des entreprises en matière de BSE, vers la normalisation d'un Bilan Biodiversité. Si la généralisation de ce dernier nécessiterait des travaux supplémentaires, soulignons que son institutionnalisation conduirait à produire les systèmes d'informations clefs au basculement des régulations sur les consommations de nature, vers la mobilisation d'outils économiques permettant à la fois de rendre couteuses les dégradations de BSE et de rentabiliser les pratiques qui leurs seraient favorables

Rendre compte des dépendances et impacts en matière de biodiversité et de services écosystémiques: Vers la standardisation d'un bilan biodiversité

La communauté scientifique et de nombreuses associations dénoncent depuis plusieurs décennies l’érosion de la biodiversité provoquée directement ou indirectement par les entreprises. Le monde de l’entreprise n’a pourtant été officiellement invité à contribuer aux objectifs de la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique (CDB) qu’en 2006, lors de l’adoption de la décision VIII/17 pendant la 8ème Conférence des Parties à Curitiba. Les entreprises ontbesoin d’outils innovants pour systématiquement intégrer la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques (BSE) dans leurs processus décisionnels et activités quotidiennes. Alors que la 10ème Conférence des Parties de la CDB est sur le point de débuter en cette Année Internationale de la Biodiversité, l’absence de méthodologie standardisée pour rendre compte aux parties prenantes externes de leurs dépendances et impacts en matière de BSE constitueun des freins majeurs à la généralisation de stratégies et pratiques organisationnelles favorables au monde vivant. Aussi, l’objectif de ce rapport est double : (A) présenter les principaux résultats de nos travaux en matière de comptabilité analytique pour gérer les interactions entre entreprises et BSE et (B) souligner l’importance du développement de normes comptables combinant données financières et BSE

COVID-19 – What is the Impact for Tourism as a Vehicle of SMME Development and Incentivizing Environmental Management in South Africa?

The tourism sector is regarded as a modern-day engine of growth and has significant potential to serve as a vehicle for socio-economic upliftment. Evidence also illustrates the potential that pro-poor tourism has for incentivising natural capital protection and ecosystem restoration. This paper explores the impact of the decline in global tourism, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, on incentivising environmental management. This is analysed in conjunction with emerging literature on the impact of environmental degradation on exacerbating risks of zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19. A causal loop diagram was developed to map the system and reflect its structure and functioning and capture interactions. The behaviour of the system was used to explore the impacts of the Covid19 pandemic on SMME development. This informed the re-examination of the key constraints identified as currently limiting development and growth of pro-poor tourism SMMEs. The results re-emphasise the tourism sector’s vested interest in investing in the protection of natural capital and restoration of degraded ecosystems. It highlights the need for the sector to act collectively to support recovery from Covid-19, and build resilience by developing a strategic vision for tourism that is more sustainable and equitable, and balances the needs of people and the environment

Understanding changes in business strategies regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services

International audienceBusiness activities play a major role in biodiversity loss so that firms are under increasing pressures from stakeholders to mitigate their negative impacts on ecosystems. As business attitudes, policies and behaviors regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) progressively change, a better understanding of how business strategies may be framed and implemented is required. In the first part of this paper, the authors discuss how biodiversity is usually understood as an external environmental constraint on business activities, and how this perception influences arbitrages. They then discuss how assessing BES interdependencies (impacts and dependencies) may bring about new business strategies and needs: they explore the opportunities and challenges of emerging mechanisms of payments for ecosystem services and expose the need for standardized sets of indicators at different scales for the effective management of their BES dependencies and impacts