Vaduz/Munich, 15 August 2012: Together yourSRI and the EBBC aim to draw companies’ attention to the loss of biological diversity and the risk for corporate success. Biodiversity is integral to sustainable development by providing vital goods and services, such as food, timber, carbon sequestration and flood regulation. Around 40 % of the world economy is based on biological products or processes. Companies thus profit directly or indirectly from the variety of intact ecosystems, the diversity of species and the genetic biodiversity in the extraction of raw materials and their production, as well as in the distribution and the marketing of products.
yourSRI and the EBBC aim to provide companies with concrete opportunities to protect biodiversity. Using environment management systems such as ISO 14001 or EMAS, the Biodiversity Check of the EBBC examines which business units are involved, outlines fields of action and shows how companies can secure sustainable business models and generate competitive advantages. The EBBC provides attractive options for sustainability officers and decision makers in enterprises to inform themselves on methods and instruments to evaluate the impact of a company’s activities on biological diversity.
A growing number of investors are choosing to invest in the future of their environment. These investors are at the heart of socially responsible investing (SRI), one of the most positive emerging trends in the investing world. yourSRI enables the private sector to access relevant products and services in the field of environmental investing. Oliver Oehri, Managing Partner at the Center for Social and Sustainable Products (CSSP), which operates yoursri.com, states: “One of the key issues is international dissemination and integration into the world of sustainable investments. yourSRI.com is pleased to support the European Business and Biodiversity Campaign in this process. Impact investments such as timber, agriculture or carbon become more and more important. yourSRI.com offers an intuitive search interface and helps to find investments and corresponding research in the field of biodiversity”. It is hoped that this increased awareness of biodiversity conservation will affect a broad spectrum of industries as well as large and small companies.
The concept of SRI has become an integral part of the financial world and plays a major role for various groups of actors. The increased awareness and interest in ethical, green and impact investments is fuelling a need for a greater breadth and depth of information and more straightforward and transparent access to key facts and figures. That’s why yourSRI.com has been set up.
The EBBC, led by the Global Nature Fund (GNF), was initiated by a consortium of European companies and NGOs. The goal of the project is to show the significance of biodiversity, ecologically and economically, and to motivate the private sector to support the protection and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The EBBC supports companies through Biodiversity Checks, workshops and regional biodiversity forums. Experts and other stakeholders can present their profile, company profile and case studies for free. The Campaign is supported by the European Unions LIFE+ funding programme.
More information:
European Business and Biodiversity Campaign: www.business-biodiversity.eu
yourSRI: www.yoursri.com