Global Compact International Yearbook Ausgabe 2010

European Business and
Biodiversity Platform
The European Commission has decided to establish a technical support facility to promote
the continued development of the EU Business and Biodiversity Initiative. The platform is
open to civil society as well as to business in its activities. The platform will work with the
interested priority business sectors identified by the European Commission – agriculture,
food supply, forestry, extractive industry, finance, and tourism – to promote their awareness
of and engagement in biodiversity protection.
By Shulamit Alony
The decision of the European Commission to establish a Business
and Biodiversity platform was a result of the following
process. One of the key measures identified in the European
Commission Communication adopted in 2006 on “Halting
the loss of biodiversity by 2010 – and beyond – sustaining
ecosystem services for human well-being” is the building of
more effective partnerships. This includes partnerships with
business – both at the EU and Member State levels – that are
fully in line with the global commitments of the Convention
on Biological Diversity. Active engagement of the business
community in support of biodiversity is necessary for the
achievement of many objectives of the 2010 target. In addition
to programs on business engagement of international
organizations, several Member States (e.g., France, Germany,
the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom) have
actions ongoing at the national level.
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU identified the link between
business and biodiversity protection as one of its priorities and
worked with the European Commission on the development of
an initiative in this regard called Building Better Partnerships:
Linking Business to Biodiversity (the EU B@B Initiative). After
a series of stakeholder consultations with Member States, business,
and nongovernmental organizations about the principles,
objectives, added value, and possible elements for any EU-level
action, a high-level conference on business and biodiversity
was held in Lisbon from November 12 - 13, 2007. The “Message
from Lisbon” confirmed the need to engage business in
meeting the 2010 biodiversity objectives and showed that there
was interest from the business sector. Specifically, the message
welcomed the launching of an EU Business and Biodiversity
Initiative and called on the European Commission to follow
up the conference with financial and technical support to
further develop the EU initiative. On December 14, 2007, the
European Council acknowledged the need to reinforce the
link between business and biodiversity at the European level,
and the spring Council of 2009 reinstated the need to engage
business with biodiversity. In December 2008 the European
Commission published the Communication and its annexes
on the Mid-term Report on the delivery to the EU Biodiversity
Action Plan, briefly summarizing the actions taken thus far
at the Community and Member State levels.
Objectives
The platform will engage with businesses, industry associations,
governments, and civil society through an integrated
and coordinated approach.
Awareness:
The platform will work with the interested priority business
sectors identified by the European Commission – agriculture,
food supply, forestry, extractive industry, finance, and
tourism – to promote their awareness of and engagement in
biodiversity protection.
Implementation:
The platform works with the business sectors, their associated
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Global Compact International Yearbook 2010