Business and Biodiversity: IBBI at ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity 2016

15 Feb, 2016

The ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity (ACB) 2016, held from 15-19 February 2016 in Bangkok, brought together more than 800 representatives from the ASEAN governments, international organisations, scientific and research community, NGOs and academia.

Photo Credit: ACB 2016

The ACB 2016, based on the theme of “Biodiversity for Sustainable Development,” provided a forum to the various participants to exchange perspectives on initiatives that “address biodiversity issues in the region, discuss steps forward in advancing the ASEAN biodiversity agenda within the context of the Aichi Targets and the newly adopted global mandate on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat and BirdLife International, had organised the thematic sessions on Business and Biodiversity, as part of the ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity 2016. India Business and biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) was invited to provide insights into its regional efforts in expanding dialogues and forging partnerships on business and biodiversity. IBBI is a forerunner business driven national initiative and is also an active member of the Global Platform on Business and Biodiversity hosted at CBD.

The efforts made by IBBI to integrate biodiversity management to the core of business operations were much appreciated by the participants. This was followed by discussion on development of ASEAN Regional, and National Business & Biodiversity Platforms in the region. As a result of the discussions during the thematic parallel sessions, it is now envisaged that ACB shall work closely with ASEAN CSR and business councils to move the agenda forward and take the recommendations provided by the sessions into action.

Spread across five days, the ACB 2016 highlighted four major biodiversity concerns:

• Progress in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and its linkages to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Ecosystem-based approaches to manage critical ecosystems and biodiversity.
• Sustainable use and benefit sharing.
• Business and biodiversity.

The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development launched the India Business & Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) on May 22, 2014, to guide and mentor business organisations in India on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. This business-led initiative, serves as a national platform for businesses, to promote sharing and learning, and also leads them to mainstream sustainable management of biodiversity across their value chains and beyond towards conservation of India’s biodiversity. IBBI was initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, and is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

To read more on the Conference, please visit: ACB 2016