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The WBCSD on Ecosystems
Ecological balance is one of the three pillars of sustainable development and without it, business cannot function. All corporations affect ecosystems and rely on the critical regulatory services (climate regulation, flood control, waste treatment) and provisioning services (freshwater, fiber, food) they provide.
Over the past 50 years human activity has altered ecosystems faster and more extensively than ever before. The main findings of the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment – a four-year, international, scientific appraisal of the conditions and trends in the Earth's ecosystems completed in 2005 – are that the majority of critical ecosystem services assessed are being degraded or used at unsustainable levels and that this will accelerate, impacting sustainable development options and business opportunities. The WBCSD assisted in the final preparation of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment synthesis report for business and industry, released in July 2005 .
The Ecosystems Focus Area aims to support the business license of member companies to operate, innovate and grow by proactively addressing business risks associated with accelerating ecosystem degradation and the loss of ecosystem services.
More specifically it will promote the development and uptake of best practice mitigation and market-based approaches that support the sustainable management and use of ecosystems services – both on a stand alone basis and in cooperation with other stakeholders.
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"Business cannot function if ecosystems and the services they deliver – like water, biodiversity, food, fiber and climate – are degraded or out of balance."
Björn Stigson, President WBCSD |
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>>> The business case
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