Global Compact International Yearbook Ausgabe 2010
A profound retrospective of the first decade of the UN Global Compact, challenges in the light of the year of biodiversity, and instruments for an adequate Corporate Citizenship are some of the issues highlighted in the new 2010 edition of the “Global Compact International Yearbook”. Among this years prominent authors are Ban Ki-moon, Bill Clinton, Joschka Fischer and Achim Steiner. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “As the Global Compact enters its second decade, it is my hope that this Yearbook will be an inspiration to bring responsible business to true scale.” Formally presented during the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York, the yearbook is now for sale. Looking back at the past ten years, the United Nations Global Compact has left its mark in a variety of ways, helping shape the conservation about corporate responsibility and diffusing the concept of a principle-based approach to doing business across the globe. Chapter two deals with Biodiversity: UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner emphasizes the importance of protecting the nature: “Climate change has been described as the biggest market failure of all time – the loss of biodiversity and nature’s economically-important services must surely be running a close second, if not an equal first. Year in and year out, the world economy may be losing services from forests to freshwaters and from soils to coral reefs, with resulting costs of up to $4.5 trillion or more. Decisive action needs to be taken to reverse these declines or the bill will continue to climb – and with it any hopes of achieving the poverty-related Millennium Development Goals and a sustainable 21st century for six billion people, rising to nine billion by 2050.” Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, adds: “Now is the time for concrete action from the business community to save life on earth. The alternative is an impoverished planet that can no longer support a healthy, vibrant global economy. The stakes in this fight could not be higher. As the slogan of the International Year reminds us, ‘Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.’”
A profound retrospective of the first decade of the UN Global Compact, challenges in the light of the year of biodiversity, and instruments for an adequate Corporate Citizenship are some of the issues highlighted in the new 2010 edition of the “Global Compact International Yearbook”. Among this years prominent authors are Ban Ki-moon, Bill Clinton, Joschka Fischer and Achim Steiner. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “As the Global Compact enters its second decade, it is my hope that this Yearbook will be an inspiration to bring responsible business to true scale.” Formally presented during the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York, the yearbook is now for sale. Looking back at the past ten years, the United Nations Global Compact has left its mark in a variety of ways, helping shape the conservation about corporate responsibility and diffusing the concept of a principle-based approach to doing business across the globe.
Chapter two deals with Biodiversity: UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner emphasizes the importance of protecting the nature: “Climate change has been described as the biggest market failure of all time – the loss of biodiversity and nature’s economically-important services must surely be running a close second, if not an equal first. Year in and year out, the world economy may be losing services from forests to freshwaters and from soils to coral reefs, with resulting costs of up to $4.5 trillion or more. Decisive action needs to be taken to reverse these declines or the bill will continue to climb – and with it any hopes of achieving the poverty-related Millennium Development Goals and a sustainable 21st century for six billion people, rising to nine billion by 2050.” Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, adds: “Now is the time for concrete action from the business community to save life on earth. The alternative is an impoverished planet that can no longer support a healthy, vibrant global economy. The stakes in this fight could not be higher. As the slogan of the International Year reminds us, ‘Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.’”
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Agenda<br />
Biodiversity<br />
What is the ESR ?<br />
The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) is a<br />
structured method that helps managers proactively<br />
develop strategies to manage business risks and<br />
opportunities arising from their company’s dependence and<br />
impact on ecosystems.<br />
Responding to questions from corporations about the<br />
relevance of ecosystem services to corporate performance,<br />
the World Resources Institute partnered with the WBCSD<br />
and the Meridian Institute to develop the ESR. A draft<br />
method was developed and “road-tested” by five WBCSD<br />
members in the forestry, mining, specialty chemicals,<br />
agriculture, and hydropower sectors. Experiences from<br />
the road tests and input from other companies were<br />
incorporated into the final ESR.<br />
The method consists of a five-step process (see below).<br />
It starts by helping managers define a scope for the<br />
analysis – typically a business unit or part of the supply<br />
chain. Next, an Excel tool simplifies the selection of the<br />
ecosystem services that are most relevant. Third, the ESR<br />
has a framework for analyzing the trends of the priority<br />
ecosystem services. For example, managers may want<br />
to know how the quality and quantity of freshwater they<br />
depend upon will change over the next 15 years as a result<br />
of pollution, deforestation, climate change, or other factors.<br />
These trends give rise to specific risks and opportunities<br />
and the ESR provides a structured approach for identifying<br />
them. Finally, in step five, the ESR provides guidance in<br />
identifying actions that can be taken within the firm, with<br />
partners, and in relation to public policy to better manage<br />
these risks and opportunities.<br />
Steps in an ESR<br />
into business risks and opportunities for AkzoNobel Pulp<br />
& Paper Chemicals. “We found that Corporate Ecosystem<br />
Services Review fits nicely into our toolbox for sustainability<br />
assessments,” says Christina Hillforth, Director Sustainability<br />
& Operational Services at AkzoNobel Technology & Engineering.<br />
“It catches issues difficult to include in a quantitative Life<br />
Cycle Assessment or an Eco-efficiency Assessment. Thus, it<br />
complements the Eco-efficiency Assessment method widely<br />
used within AkzoNobel to include both the environmental<br />
and cost perspectives in the decision-making process.”<br />
4. Reduce risk of reputation and supply disruptions<br />
Companies are using the ESR to identify and reduce reputational,<br />
supply, and other risks associated with their supply<br />
chains. Yves Rocher, a global cosmetics firm, conducted an<br />
ESR on a branch of its supply chain with technical support<br />
from the INSPIRE Institute. The ESR identified several reputational<br />
and long-term supply concerns, including one related to<br />
the company’s dependence on essential oils from a rare tree<br />
species. Yves Rocher is now launching a program to increase<br />
planting of the rare tree and to develop less harmful ways of<br />
harvesting its essential oils.<br />
Survey recommended<br />
While these examples cover only a portion of ESR-use to date,<br />
they demonstrate the value that conducting an ESR can bring<br />
to a business. Most importantly, the ESR can help managers<br />
uncover new business risks and opportunities that, in turn,<br />
improve corporate strategy, policy, and other decision-making<br />
processes; help develop new products and services; avoid reputational<br />
risks; and avert supply chain disruptions. For these<br />
and other reasons, 94 percent of World Business Council for<br />
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) members who have used<br />
the ESR to date would recommend it to peers, according to<br />
a recent survey.<br />
1 Select the scope<br />
2 Identify priority ecosystem services<br />
3 Analyze trends in priority services<br />
4 Identify business risks and opportunities<br />
5 Develop strategies<br />
John Finisdore leads the World Resources<br />
Institute’s Business & Ecosystem Services<br />
Project.<br />
To learn more about ecosystem services, download the ESR, and read<br />
supporting materials, please visit: www.wri.org/ecosystems/esr.<br />
<strong>Global</strong> <strong>Compact</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Yearbook</strong> <strong>2010</strong> 49
Change language