Biodiversity

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the diversity of life on Earth: the diversity between and within species and organisms. We and our economic and social well-being directly depend on life on Earth, the ecosystems it is part of and the services these systems provide. These are the so-called ecosystem services.

In recent years, biodiversity has taken a central place in the global sustainability agenda. You might think your organisation does not rely on biodiversity and ecosystem services, but even when it is not always obvious, we all rely on the survival of ecosystems for our economic and societal well-being. This includes clean air, clean water, pharmaceuticals, soil formation, pollination, and more. The positive impact your organisation could have on supporting ecosystems starts with the question of what you can do. And we would love to help in answering that. Check out our biodiversity quick scan below to find out how we can work together. And if you would like to know more about the approach we take at TheRockGroup, read on under the quick scan!

Does your business depend on ecosystem services?

Researchers have calculated that $44 trillion of economic value generation – over half the world’s total GDP – is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services. You don’t believe it? Read the whole report here. How much does your business depend on biodiversity and ecosystems?

It is foreseen that within the next 10 years, financial institutions worldwide will be obliged to identify biodiversity related financial risks (as is already the case in the Netherlands with other EU member states implementing similar procedures). This will impact other businesses’ access to finance.

Deforestation, pollution, habitat destruction, overexploitation of resources, disruption of natural biochemical cycles and introduction of exotic species are damaging biodiversity and the fragile ecosystems we rely on. Within these complex systems, these damages often have exacerbating effects on each other. Many also contribute to climate change, degradation of agricultural soils, and occurrence and spread of plagues and pests.

Are you able to answer the following questions for your business?

• Do you know your organisations’ impact and/or dependency on biodiversity/ecosystem services?
• Do you know where the key dependencies or impacts are in the value chain: in the supply chain, in your own operations or at your clients and customers?
• Are you taking actions to reduce your impact on and/or dependency on biodiversity?
• Do you contribute to the restoration of biodiversity where you cannot mitigate your impact?
• Are you able to track and report your biodiversity dependency and impact?