High Level Conference on Business & Biodiversity

Conference - 12-13 November 2007 - Lisbon

People everywhere depend upon biodiversity for their livelihoods, their quality of life, and to provide basic ecological services on which all life depends.

Companies too depend on biodiversity. It helps to stabilize the climate and provide clean air and water, services vital for a stable operating environment. It provides raw materials, technology and business opportunities.

Biodiversity, or the variety of life and natural systems, is disappearing all across the globe faster than ever before. This loss of biodiversity represents a business risk. As diversity disappears, so do opportunities for new products, new technologies and new business opportunities.

The High Level Conference on Business & Biodiversity – taking place on November 12 and 13 in Lisbon – is about these challenges. It offers cutting-edge debate on how European business can improve performance through biodiversity responsibility. High-level speakers and participants from business, governments and civil society will chart ways towards a European Business and Biodiversity Initiative, working towards better responsibility schemes, partnerships, assessments and markets. The resulting Message from Lisbon will contribute to the 2010 Targets of making the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy and of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010.

Newsletter 1
25th of October, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Conference Newsletter

Whether you are a speaker, participant or observer – this newsletter is designed to

  1. Give you background information on the issues that will be addressed and the debates that will be held. This newsletter introduces you to the participating companies and the main workshop streams.

  2. Be a practical tool, keeping you up to date with meeting preparations and logistical details that will make your trip to and stay in Lisbon easier. For enquires or more information, the Conference Secretariat can be reached on tel: + 351 21 771 26 34; fax: +351 21 771 26 39; icnb@leading.pt; http://countdown2010.net/business

"The preservation of biodiversity is not just a job for governments. International and non-governmental organisations, the private sector and each and every individual have a role to play in changing entrenched outlooks and ending destructive patterns of behaviour"
- Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, 2003

Facts and Figures: High Level Conference on Business & Biodiversity

When?
12-13 November 2007

Where?
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (map)
Av. de Berna, 45A
1067-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Who?
Some three hundred business leaders, biodiversity experts, NGOs and policy makers are expected to attend.

High-level speakers include Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme; Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity; Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General, IUCN; Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for Environment, European Commission; Francisco Nunes Correia, Minister for Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development, Portugal; Sigmar Gabriel, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany; Janez Podobnik, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenia; Martin Taylor, Chairman of the Board, Syngenta International AG; Jaan Albrecht, CEO, Star Alliance Services GmbH; António Mexia, CEO of Energias de Portugal (EDP); Jean-Claude Steffens, Senior Executive Vice President, SUEZ S.A; Jacques du Puy, Executive Committee Member of Bayer CropScience; Kirsi Sormunen, Vice President of Environmental Affairs & CR, Nokia Corporation; Bernard Küng, Area Manager, Holcim; Brigitta Schmognerowa, Vice President, EBRD; Simon Brooks, Vice President, European Investment Bank

The programme is available on http://countdown2010.net/business

The conference is co-organized by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), Countdown 2010 and the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e Biodiversidade, in cooperation with the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission.

What?

  • High level plenaries on ‘European biodiversity commitments & business’ and on sectoral challenges;
  • Business Roundtables moving from words to action and
  • Workshops on Responsibility Schemes; Biodiversity Assessments; Markets for biodiversity goods & services and Partnerships.

Registration
You should recently have received your invitation and registration form. If this is not the case, please contact the Conference Secretariat (+ 351 21 771 26 34; fax: +351 21 771 26 39; icnb@leading.pt).

 

Participating companies

High level speakers from Syngenta, Nokia, Suez, Ecover, Energias de Portugal, Rio Tinto, Star Alliance, Bayer CropScience will contribute their views on business and biodiversity in the plenary sessions. Additional companies contribute to workshops and discussions. For the entire program, please visit the conference website.

Best practice on business and biodiversity

Responsible management – The Equator Principles for the financial industry help in managing the environmental risk for projects with capital costs over $10m. Principle 2 calls for “an environmental and social assessment that addresses mitigation and management of impacts”. The principles have been adopted by 54 financial institutions from 21 countries.

Biodiversity assessment – Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) is a methodology to provide comprehensive and reliable information about biodiversity resources in situations where time and financial resources are limited. It has helped to establish base lines and assess large-scale development projects in the aluminium industry.

Markets for biodiversity – Biodiversity offsets are conservation activities intended to compensate for the residual, unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused by development projects. In addition to mandatory offsets, there is growing interest in the potential of voluntary offsets: some companies have made public commitments to implement biodiversity offsets linked to their ‘footprint’, while several mainstream investors are looking at biodiversity offsets as a new business opportunity, as well as an indicator of good corporate governance.

Partnerships – Shell works with the Smithsonian instiute on Gabon’s Gamba Complex, a protected area that hosts both rich biodiversity and large oil reserves. The partnership aims to increase Gabon’s knowledge on biodiversity, promote links with stakeholders and advance the business-research model.

High Level Conference on Business & Biodiversity

For enquires or more information, the Conference Secretariat can be reached on tel: + 351 21 771 26 34; fax: +351 21 771 26 39; icnb@leading.pt; http://countdown2010.net/business