The world is facing an acute nature and biodiversity crisis, where plant and animal species are dying out faster than ever before. Nature’s ecosystems are necessary for vital resources such as drinking water, food, energy and medicine. World society is deeply dependent on nature.
To strengthen companies’ efforts to protect the world’s nature and biodiversity, the Danish Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke is therefore setting up a new partnership under the name the Biodiversity Partnership. In addition to the Danish Ministry of Environment, the partnership will consist of 15 organisations and two researchers.
Several Danish companies have called on the government to establish a partnership with the potential to create a common framework for how companies best act on the natural crisis.
“The biodiversity crisis is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and we have a duty to solve it together. It is positive that the business community is reaching out to give their contribution to reverse the trend so that biodiversity can flourish again”, says the Danish Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke, and adds “I am also ready to listen to the companies’ recommendations on how we remove barriers or creates incentives for their footprint on nature to be smaller and more sustainable.”
Firm support from the business community
Many Danish companies are increasingly focusing on reducing their global footprint on nature and biodiversity, but often lack knowledge and a clear framework. The Confederation of Danish Industry and the WWF proposed a biodiversity partnership last year.
The new partnership will guide Danish companies in how best to protect biodiversity in their production and supply chains and at the same time point out which barriers the companies encounter when they initiate biodiversity efforts in their companies and their global value chains.
“It is a strong partnership consisting of important organizations and authorities across society, who take responsibility and are now coming together to find the necessary solutions that can contribute to stopping the nature and biodiversity crisis. We must share knowledge and experience nationally and internationally, spread the solutions on a large scale and find out how we can best integrate biodiversity into the companies’ business, when food, medicine, infrastructure and more need to be developed for the benefit of society as a whole” says Lars Sandahl Sørensen, CEO of the Confederation of Danish Industry.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce is also pleased that an initiative is being taken for a biodiversity partnership.
“Nature and biodiversity are central to all of us as people and to the planet, but it is also business-critical for companies, in the long run, to secure continued access to sustainable resources and raw materials. That is why we are very happy with the minister’s initiative on a biodiversity partnership. John F. Kennedy said before the trip to the moon that we choose to go to the moon in this decade not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Measuring the impact on nature and biodiversity is also difficult, which is precisely why a partnership across authorities, companies and civil society organizations is central. It will be a big ‘yes thank you’ from here” says Brian Mikkelsen, CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce.
