The WWF has been actively defending nature’s rights and preserving its integrity for over 60 years. Its mission has never been as important as it is today with the accelerating decline of the world’s biodiversity. We met with Olivia Lipsky, Corporate Sustainability manager at WWF Switzerland, to discuss the interconnectivity between business and biodiversity and why addressing this pressing issue now is paramount for a viable business in the long term.
In a business-oriented world, how are climate change, biodiversity preservation and human rights connected?
Climate change and biodiversity loss are often referred to as the “twin crises.” Climate change significantly drives biodiversity loss by altering habitats and making them inhospitable for many species. Temperature shifts, sea level rise, and changing weather patterns, including an increase in extreme weather events, disrupt biological cycles, leading to species extinction and the collapse of entire ecosystems. Conversely, biodiversity loss exacerbates climate change by reducing carbon sequestration and weakening ecosystem resilience. Preserving biodiversity is crucial not only to protect our ecosystems, which form the foundation of life, but also to mitigate climate change by maintaining ecosystems that act as carbon sinks, such as forests and wetlands.
By further destabilizing biodiversity, we inadvertently accelerate climate change, and vice versa.
Additionally, the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss impact human health in numerous ways, such as heatwaves, crop failures, increased resource scarcity, flooding, extreme weather events. Diseases lead to a loss of livelihoods, health problems, population displacement, and loss of cultural heritage.
The burden of these issues is not distributed evenly among people and countries. The primary drivers of the twin crises—habitat destruction and degradation, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution—disproportionately impact vulnerable communities, developing countries, and indigenous peoples. Perversely, the economic activities of the richest and most industrialized countries are largely responsible for these crises. Commodities sourced from the global south, such as cocoa, coffee, and soy, are often cultivated in environmentally damaging ways and under socially questionable conditions. Child labour, poverty, displacement, corruption, and discrimination are common problems. This starkly highlights the inequality and unfairness of the situation, raising serious questions about human rights. Poverty and corruption, in turn, further drive biodiversity loss and climate change and lead to unsustainable resource use.
To achieve sustainability, economic and financial systems must be governed in a fair and inclusive way. The interconnections between climate change, biodiversity preservation, and human rights therefore underlines the importance of holistic and sustainable business practices. Companies must act responsibly to address these global challenges, ensuring that their operations benefit both people and the planet.
It seems that companies have a hard time grasping how biodiversity loss impacts their business. How would you describe this interconnection?
No matter how you look at it, any business is highly dependent on intact ecosystems. Nature fulfills many different services for humans such as the purification of air and water, pollination which enables food production…etc. It is estimated that 50% of the global GDP are heavily or moderately reliant on ecosystem services performed by nature. The World Bank estimates that partial collapse of biodiversity is going to cost $ 2’700 Billions yearly until 2030 to make up for the lack of these services. Food supply chains, for example, are heavily dependent on water supply, climate, and animal pollination. 70% of the most common crops used in agriculture depend on pollination by insects.
Businesses will increasingly face risks around biodiversity loss, stemming from financial and planning insecurities, crop losses, etc. Business models must be reimagined to prioritize sustainability, ensuring that financial gains do not come at the expense of nature.
Here are a few recent studies that perfectly reflect how biodiversity is vital for all businesses.
- https://www.pwc.ch/en/publications/2020/nature-is-too-big-to-fail.pdf
- https://www.bain.com/globalassets/german-blocks/pdfs/biodiversitatsstudie-ch/bain-wwf_study_biodiversity-time-to-act_ch_vf.pdf
- https://www.wwf.ch/sites/default/files/doc-2023-09/WWF_Deloitte_Insurance_Biodiversity_Climate_2023.pdf
How do companies benefit from including these approaches in their business?
Only through sustainable value chains and business models can companies achieve a truly sustainable business. If businesses want to be viable in the long term, it is imperative that they take the twin crisis into account and take responsibility for their emissions and all their impacts. By taking biodiversity and climate risks into account, minimizing and abating the impact, companies can benefit from several opportunities: minimizing business risks, manage their business more cost efficiently, take responsibility for their impacts, improve supplier relations and be ready to comply with upcoming regulations and laws (like EUDR and CSDDD). If you look at the big picture, there is no alternative but to act now.
What would you suggest companies implement to truthfully measure this impact?
There are several frameworks which can help companies measure and assess their impact and dependencies on nature and climate as well as guide them through the next steps of their sustainability journey. The WWF Biodiversity and Water Stewardship Framework for instance provides valuable guide for companies to assess the risks and to plan their transformation in terms of nature. Additionally, the WWF blueprint for climate action can help companies on their way to net zero. WWF encourages companies to set science-based targets with the Science Based Targets initiative which enables companies and financial institutions to set targets for nature and climate, defines best practices and provides tools and guidance.