The ESA explained that the guide brings together relevant policy, legislation and reporting tools as well as case studies from the association’s members to help organisations within the sector assess their impacts upon biodiversity. The document was compiled by members of the ESA’s biodiversity working group, it added.
The report comes as the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal draws to a close. The ESA said it is hoped that a global agreement on strategies to protect nature and biodiversity will be reached as a result.
Biodiversity loss
The United Nations estimates that extraction and processing of raw materials to meet global consumption accounts for 90% of biodiversity loss, while recycling reduces the need to extract and process more by keeping materials in use for longer.
The use of recycled materials helps lower the carbon emissions associated with the extraction of processing of raw materials, the association continued. Additionally, waste management practices and regulations aim to help minimise pollution, thus protecting biodiversity.
Some of the recommended steps for organisations include sensitive planning and delivery of construction projects or by creating and maintaining habitats on estate holdings. The ESA noted that accurate monitoring and reporting on biodiversity impacts is crucial to ensuring effectiveness of interventions.
Chair of the ESA’s biodiversity working group, Leigh Broadhurst, said: “Protecting biodiversity is critical for companies across their operations and supply chains, and is particularly important for organisations with decarbonisation, sustainability and ESG strategies.
“Our shareholders and stakeholders increasingly expect the companies they deal with to play a proactive role in addressing the ecological crisis and this best practice guide serves as a reference point for organisations to monitor, plan and deliver biodiversity impacts and interventions – which we hope our peers and colleagues across the sector will find useful.”
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In a webinar introducing the best practice guide yesterday (15 December), Mr Broadhurst highlighted the importance of biodiversity including in maintaining food security, disease mitigation as well as protection from natural disasters.
He said the sector played a “fundamental” role, both outwardly in waste and resources management as well as inwardly in aiming to decarbonise their operations. He acknowledged that biodiversity is a complex issue and there is no “one size fits all” as it differs based on location. Therefore, companies were advised to make the first step by assessing individual sites to find their biodiversity baseline and building up data. Starting the conversation within an organisation was also highlighted as a key part of the process, where this should cascade down to “empowering employees to take action”.
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