Incorporating ecosystem and conservation values into CSR planning and action: The need for building...

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

Incorporating Ecosystem and Conservation

Values into CSR Planning and Action:

The need for building

partnerships

Janaka de Silva

IUCN Thailand Programme


Nature provides all of our clean air, food and water…

and shelter, energy, heating, soil and medicines…

and protection from natural disasters…

and recreation, inspiration, diversity and beauty.


Social and economic development

must continue to reduce poverty

and improve people‟s lives.


So how do we make the best decisions,

based on good science,

and involving all types of people and organizations?


Outline

• An Introduction to IUCN

• Ecosystem Services

• The Rationale For Building Partnerships

• The Challenges

• Moving Forward


What is IUCN?

The world‟s largest conservation organization

bringing together 82 states, 111 government

agencies and more than 800 NGOs


Our Mission

Influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to

ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable


IUCN: the Organisation


IUCN Secretariat

State members

86

Gov‟t agency

members

120

NGO members

935

Six Commissions: 11,000 experts

SSC

WCPA CEC


IUCN IN ASIA: A STRONG TEAM

• Offices in 10

countries (dark

green)

• 360 staff, 83%

located in Country

Programmes

• 18 nationalities,

with 93% of staff

from the Region

Bhutan

Nepal


IUCN‟s Strengths

• Knowledge for conservation and

human wellbeing

• Facilitator of dialogues between

development and conservation

interests

• Leader in environmental

governance



• Increasing engagement with the private sector

• MOU‟s with ADB, CARE, ICIMOD, etc.,

• High-level partnerships with UN Agencies and Governments

DIVERSE PARTNERSHIPS BEYOND CIVIL SOCIETY…


Our Approach

2. Action

4. Empowerment

1. Knowledge

3. Influence


Programme


• Core programmes in IUCN‟s

“heartland”:

– forests, water/wetlands,

protected areas,

biodiversity and species,

marine and coastal,

economics, and law

• Continuous evolution and

adaptation into emerging

areas and needs such as:

– climate change, private

sector engagement, and

disaster risk reduction

A DYNAMIC TECHNICAL PROGRAMME


An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships

of living organisms functioning as a unit and

interacting with their physical environment


Ecosystem Services

• Considered as natural processes by which

ecosystems, and the species that make them

up, sustain and fulfill human life (Daily et al 1997).

• the benefits that people obtain from

ecosystems (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)


Natural Capital and Value

• Natural capital contributes

positively to our economies (or

well-being) and is referred to

as ecosystem services

• Resource users, extractors,

and protectors are all

beneficiaries of these services,

and all have a common stake

in ensuring their maintenance


The Ecosystem Approach

A strategy for the integrated

management of land, water

and living resources that

promotes conservation and

sustainable use in a equitable

way


The Rationale for Partnerships

Companies increasingly care ----

• Out of conviction –

• New Opportunities -

„Business can not succeed in a

society that fails‟ – Bjorn Stigson,

WBCSD


• Operational – increased

scarcity and cost of raw

materials such as freshwater,

disruptions to business

operations caused by natural

hazards, and higher insurance

costs for disasters such as

flooding;

• Regulatory – emergence of

new government policies such

as taxes and moratoria on

extractive activities;

The Business Case


• Reputational – damage to corporate reputation from media and nongovernmental organization (NGO) campaigns, shareholder resolutions and changing customer preferences;

• Access to capital – restrictions as the financial community adopts more rigorous investment and lending policies.

The Business Case


The Evolving Notion of CSR

• Public Relations

• Philanthropy

• Integral to business

• Returning societal debt

• Going beyond responsibility


The Challenges

• Recognizing that ecosystems have many

users and finding the right balance

• Not Being able to communicate effectively

• Individual versus societal good

• Hidden motives


The Challenges

• Investments are not

coordinated to

maximize benefits

– Public, Private, NGO,

etc

– Not working in a

holistic way yet,

– Some Evidence of

Cooperation amongst

sectors Image Source: http://usernumber1.com/images/jigsaw_team.jpg


PARTNERSHIPS

FOR IMPLEMENTATION…

Regional Steering Committee

National Coordinating Bodies

(Government, NGOs, CBOs, Private Sector)

Project Project Project

Project Project Project

S

E

C

R

E

T

A

R

I

A

T


Moving Forward

• Relationship Building

–Dialogue –

Understanding Each

Other

–Working with the Next

Generation of Leaders

–Networking


Moving Forward

• Developing A Strategy

– Multi Stakeholder Platforms

– Reducing impacts

– Using each others skills

• Coordinating Our Investments

• Looking at New Opportunities

– Payment for Environmental

Services

– Carbon and Biodiversity Markets


The Advantages

• Leveraging our Resources

results in increased “bang

for the buck”

• Reduces replication

• Builds on Learning

= +

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The Advantages

• Contributes both to higher

level national goals and

makes change at the local

level

• Can build on existing

plans and turn them into

reality

• Improves Integration and

cross sectoral cooperation

= +




Thank You

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