Biodiversity worries thrive

The celebration was designed to raise awareness of the issue of biodiversity the world over and to elevate awareness so that it will be closer to ranking as a top issue on the political agenda. The main targets of The International Year of Biodiversity 2010 include enhancing public awareness of the value of biodiversity conservation and of the threats to biodiversity, raising awareness of the steps already taken to conserve biodiversity, promoting solutions to lessen the impact of our activities on biodiversity, encouraging individuals, large and small corporations and governments to begin to reduce biodiversity loss where possible and to commence dialog between stakeholders in order for steps to reduce biodiversity loss to be taken sooner rather than later. What effect has the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 had on the attitudes of business executives, and how have these executives transformed their business models in response to environmental concerns?

Biodiversity was ranked as the tenth most vital environmental concern for industry representatives in a recent worldwide survey conducted by McKinsey & Company. In this survey, 64 percent of the 1,576 industry representatives considered biodiversity to be “somewhat important” on the corporate agenda. The majority of companies surveyed reported a positive outlook on biodiversity issues, with 59 percent of respondents claiming that their business has taken steps to reduce the impact of their actions on the environment. For celebrants of the International Year of Biodiversity 2010, this is welcome news.

It has been reported, however, that 59 percent of business executives view biodiversity as an opportunity rather than a risk. That said the majority of these respondents have begun to transform their business operations and make increased use of renewable resources with a view to reducing the impact on the environment. A total of 43 percent of respondents claim that they consider energy efficiency to be among the most important issues relating to biodiversity.

The results of the survey, conducted by McKinsey & Company, indicate that business executives are viewing the issue of biodiversity as being of greater importance than in the past. The results provide evidence to show that businesses are becoming increasing concerned over the issue of biodiversity and that this is affecting the way in which businesses operate. Furthermore, consumer surveys conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2008 showed that consumers would rather purchase products from environmentally-conscious businesses. In this survey, 90 percent of consumers claimed to hold the belief that large businesses should do more to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment. Consumers were therefore found to favour companies who had an outstanding reputation for reducing the impact of their activities on the environment.

The results of the industry survey may therefore go to show that business executives are making changes to the way in which their businesses operate as a result of increased awareness of the threats to biodiversity. It can hence be concluded that the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 has had an impact on the views of businesses. However, this is true of customers too. While consumers’ attitudes towards the environment can undoubtedly influence corporate agendas, it can also be said that changes in corporate agendas in response to biodiversity concerns can also influence businesses’ profit margins.