Partnerships

Introduction

The 2006 Biodiversity Communication "Halting Biodiversity Loss by 2010 - and Beyond: Sustaining ecosystem services for human well-being"includes measures such as building partnerships between government, academia, conservation practitioners, landowners and users, private sector, finance sector, educational sector and the media.

Biodiversity is one of the foundations of both a sustainable environment but also a sustainable economy, since the activities of all companies can have an impact on biodiversity, either directly or indirectly. The European Commission seeks to enhance co-operation between the business and the nature conservation sectors to develop win-win solutions benefiting biodiversity, and at the same time meeting economic needs.

Supporting Business for Biodiversity – The 'BTAU' project:
Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units

This project aims to directly assist the efforts of business with developing and implementing pro-biodiversity projects. The ongoing service contract includes concept work (such as the identification of opportunities, scoping, identification of gaps and elements that are impeding factors). It aims to help creating ‘Pro-Biodiversity’ Businesses through dedicated Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units (BTAU), one in each of the pilot project countries: Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland.

The Units apply a public-private partnership approach to explore business opportunities for safeguarding biodiversity. It aims at linking commercial loan funding with public subsidies to produce long-term, site and region-specific economic and nature benefits with a special focus on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The project highlights the opportunities and constraints faced by SMEs in managing biodiversity in a sustainable way, and at the same time achieving commercial viability.

• The BTAU project – final report

• The BTAU project - website

Within the framework of the BTAU project a handbook is compiled, which is now available to help you generating win-win solution pro-biodiversity business opportunities.

• 'Handbook for developing and implementing pro-biodiversity business projects'

The Business and Biodiversity Platform

As a conclusion of the 'Lisbon Conference' on Business and Biodiversity (2007), the Commission committed itself to provide technical support for further developing the EU Business and Biodiversity (B@B) Initiative. The Commission has published a call for tender to establish a technical facility / platform.

The project aims to set up and operate the B@B Platform web-site including the collection and preparation of up-to-date information on knowhow and best practices; to facilitate discussion and co-operation between stakeholders and enhancing business and financial sector engagement; the preparation of sectoral guidance documents on business involvement; the development of clear tools (indicators) to measure biodiversity impacts (benefits); and an EU B@B award scheme to acknowledge outstanding performance.

The European Business and Biodiversity Platform - get involved!

The NATURA 2000 PARTNER Reward scheme

The European Commission is currently preparing a new award scheme for rewarding the title 'NATURA 2000 PARTNER' to public or private institutions or organisation, communes, cities, NGOs, enterprises, farms, land owners, tourism/recreation bodies, etc, having special merits in contributing to the integrated management of or the awareness raising on Natura 2000 sites. The scheme will be implemented by Member States on voluntary basis and is aimed to be launched as from 2010.

Business and Biodiversity – important milestones

• The Biodiversity Action Plan, attached to the 2006 Biodiversity Communication includes Action B3.1.6 on developing business and biodiversity partnerships, and Action B3.1.7 on development of partnerships between the financing sector and biodiversity
• The 'Lisbon Conference' on Business and Biodiversity(2007): A new EU initiative on business and biodiversity, including the financing sector, was explored in a partnership of the European Commission and the Portuguese EU Presidency, which aimed to introduce biodiversity considerations into corporate governance through voluntary initiatives. A milestone event in these consultations has been a major stakeholder conference on Business and Biodiversity hosted by Portugal, at which an EU Business and Biodiversity Initiative was launched.
• Mid-term Report on the delivery to the EU Biodiversity Action Plan published in December 2008 reinforced the importance of business involvement. Twenty Member States out of twenty-five have indicated in their 2008 report that they have national initiatives aimed at promoting partnerships for biodiversity.
• 'The Message from Athens', lays down the first principles of the future EU biodiversity policy and is the outcome of the high-level conference 'Biodiversity Protection – Beyond 2010' (27-28 April, 2009, Athens, Greece). It states that enhancement of business and financial sector engagement is one of the key biodiversity policy priorities for the Commission.