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Editor's Note
Putting a Value on Nature
In January 2011, Dow Chemical and the Nature Conservancy committed US$10 million to establish a new approach to resource management. During the announcement, Dow President and CEO Andrew N. Liveris said: "Going forward, the businesses that are best positioned to get ahead will be the ones that truly build a full approach to ecosystem management and biodiversity economics into all of their plans."
In this edition of the BSR Review, we feature a collection of our work related to ecosystem services. Ecosystem services provide us with nature’s infrastructure—the natural pipelines, HVAC systems, filtration units, and retaining walls—that businesses use for free and that are starting to show serious signs of deterioration. Dow’s commitment signals a shift in the way companies will value and incorporate nature into global business decisions.
To help companies consider how nature supports or disrupts their business operations and supply chains, we’ve compiled articles, reports, and webinars that:
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Evaluate ecosystem services assessment tools
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Explore the difficulty in shifting from a discrete issue focus to a systems view of corporate impact
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Provide examples of ecosystem-based management through corporate water stewardship activities
To learn more about BSR's Environmental Services, Tools, and Markets Working Group or for questions about ecosystem services, please contact Linda Hwang.
Ecosystem Services Assessment Tools
Measuring Environmental Performance: The Business Case for New Tools
(October 26, 2010)
By
After years of focus on the measurement and management of individual performance metrics, leading companies are now taking a systems approach to environmental management. BSR's Environmental Services, Tools, and Markets Working Group is helping companies define and articulate the business case for investing in tools that measure ecosystem services.
Read more→
Considering the Big Picture: Using Ecosystem Services Tools to Improve Corporate Environmental Performance
(February 16, 2010)
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With increasing pressure on companies to consider landscape-level impacts in corporate environmental performance, BSR's new report provides guidance on which emerging tools are right for your company.
Read more→
Future Expectations of Corporate Environmental Performance
(March 16, 2010)
This report explores how managing environmental issues is broadening from a discrete, single approach to one that includes an assessment of how business may be affecting landscape-level ecological dynamics, such as flows of ecosystem services.
Read more→
Sustainability Matters: Future Expectations of Corporate Environmental Performance ★
(February 17, 2010)
Listen to our discussion of the findings from BSR's report "Future Expectations of Corporate Environmental Performance," and understand how they apply to your job today.
Read more→
Future Expectations of Corporate Environmental Performance: Supplementary Materials
(March 16, 2010)
Additional resources for the report.
Read more→
Measuring Corporate Impact on Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Review of New Tools
(December 1, 2008)
Learn how to integrate ecosystem services into your corporate planning and daily decision making. This report on ecosystem services allows you to compare the various tools that measure and assess the value of ecosystem services.
Read more→
Decision Making in a Systems-Focused Era
Biodiversity Conservation and Human Development
(December 14, 2010)
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How can companies systematically align business success with poverty reduction, business strategies with healthy ecosystems, and biodiversity conservation with human development?
Read more →
Managing Risks and Opportunities of Biodiversity Loss and Ecosystem Degradation
(July 20, 2010)
By Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services, BSR
A study entitled "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" outlines the business risks and opportunities related to biodiversity; explores consumers' changing preference for environmentally friendly products; describes new initiatives and tools that enable businesses to measure, value, and report on their ecosystem impacts; and examines new business models that deliver biodiversity benefits.
Read more →
Climate Change and Desertification: The Link to Corporate Responsibility
(June 15, 2010)
By Laura Ediger, Associate Director, Advisory Services, BSR
Global climate change is exacerbating the degradation of dry landscapes on every continent. As the risks grow, businesses are addressing desertification as a part of broader efforts to look comprehensively at their environmental impacts.
Read more →
New Expectations: Corporate Environmental Performance
(November 4, 2010)
This session explored how policy makers and leading companies are integrating ecosystem services into decision making and the implications of this new trend on corporate environmental performance.
Read more →
2009 State of Global Ecosystem Services Policy Developments
(February 1, 2010)
This report lays out key 2009 developments and important ongoing efforts in the policy realm, ranging from new regulations in select geographic areas through administrative decisions and voluntary initiatives that could influence legislative and regulatory policy around ecosystem services.
Read more →
The New Markets for Environmental Services: A Corporate Manager's Resource Guide to Trading in Air, Climate, Water, and Biodiversity Assets
(December 1, 2007)
This guide introduces corporate decision makers to the broad suite of market-based
mechanisms related to the environment, with a specific focus on formal markets.
Read more →
Operationalizing Ecological Restoration Through Water Stewardship
Water in the 21st Century: Shared Risks Demand Shared Action
(December 7, 2010)
The CEO Water Mandate's "Guide to Responsible Business Engagement With Water Policy" provides a way for companies to look far beyond their fence lines and engage with a spectrum of water stakeholders to help ensure the healthy and long-term stewardship of a given water catchment, river basin, or watershed.
Read more →
Understanding and Managing Water-Related Risks
(March 1, 2011)
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By focusing on three primary areas—facility/product water use and discharge, supply and quality risks in regional watersheds, and partnerships to help manage “shared risks”—companies can more effectively manage their water-related risks.
Read more →
Nestlé Waters North America: Strengthening Dialogue with Communities
(June 1, 2010)
To help ensure that Nestlé Waters North America's water withdrawal does not have negative impacts,
BSR helped the company develop a siting and community-commitment framework to proactively manage site impacts, incorporate increased local input into the company’s water-siting process, and increase the transparency of the company’s siting efforts.
Read more →
The Art and Science of Reporting Water-Related Risk
(November 3, 2010)
In this session, experts focused on emerging practices related to water disclosures and clearly communicating efforts around water stewardship.
Read more →
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