Despite the claim that biodiversity should be protected on ethical grounds, just on the basis of its inherent or intrinsic value, there are also strong instrumental reasons for humans to preserve nature. Our own species and our civilizations depend on the complex web of interactions that occur in natural ecosystems; biodiversity is a source of resources and services that are central to our economies; the destruction of species and habitats has an enormous economic impact, albeit difficult to quantify. Even if this is not immediately apparent, the truth is that the loss of biodiversity damages human interests at large and economic interests in particular.

The strong business case to move towards a path of sustainable use of natural resources and the sense of urgency in biodiversity conservation are becoming increasingly obvious. Similarly, it has become painfully evident that governments and policy makers alone cannot cope with the scale of the biodiversity crisis. This is why, on the second half of 2007, the Portuguese EU Presidency promoted the European Business and Biodiversity Initiative as one of its environmental priorities. This initiative, which is supported by the European Commission, aims at reinforcing the links between business and biodiversity through the promotion, benchmarking, recognition and consistency of the different partnerships developed at local level, and engaging business stakeholders in the conservation of biodiversity.

Competitive advantage
We noticed that an increasing number of business leaders are willing to take into account the importance of biodiversity in their decision processes, and are looking for guidance on how to act. We believe that in most cases this trend is driven by a genuine understanding of the competitive advantage gained from biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of biological resources, rather than merely by corporate image strategies.

The High-Level Conference on Business and Biodiversity, held in Lisbon on 12-13 November 2007, joined together 400 representatives of over 150 companies and promoted in-depth discussions that brought further definition to the initiative (1). The meeting’s conclusions — the Message from Lisbon on Business and Biodiversity — recognized the need to promote the incorporation of biodiversity strategies in the business sector as well as awareness among consumers, and to offer information and expertise to business, to assist companies in shaping their commitments to biodiversity. The impact of the business sector on biodiversity is huge, both as a user of ecosystem services and as a contributor to ecosystem change. The impact of biodiversity loss on the business sector has a comparable scale. It is therefore clear that business has an essential role to play in addressing the challenge of biodiversity loss.

Humberto D. Rosa is Secretary of State for Environment, Portugal.

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(1) http://www.countdown2010.org/business