An international team of experts backed by the United States National Science Foundation has devised an eight point plan designed to halt unsustainable levels of environmental degradation wrought by the private sector.
The plan is contained in a report titled New Nature of Business, which has been endorsed by a wide range of environmental agencies, academic institutions, government utilities and firms including the oil giant BP, Dow Chemicals and the India based multinational Wipro.
The report, the first international cross disciplinary project of its kind to be funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to address the lack of awareness, review the challenges businesses face and present a persuasive case for action.
The executive summary warns the destruction of habitats is leading to a decline in species and, increasingly, to extinctions and that climate change is now a major contributor to the forces that threaten ecosystems and biodiversity world-wide.
Authored by the University of Sydney Business School’s Steve Elliot, Oregon State University’s Sally Duncan, and consultant Nigel Malone, the report goes on to provide firms with a “decision-making framework” for an environmentally sustainable future.
The step-by-step framework begins with an examination of environmental awareness levels within a firm and of relevant environmental issues and continues on to the formulation and implementation of appropriate responses.
The framework also covers the identification of sustainable business opportunities.
Co-author Professor Steve Elliot says that many firms have not responded to existing environmental challenges because they are unaware of them, are uncertain of their relevance or are uncertain as to how to deal with them.
"Some firms, particularly in the services sector, do not see that they are at least in part responsible for the degradation that we see all around us,” Professor Elliot said.
"Irrespective of their sector, it’s no longer good enough for firms to adopt CSR policies that focus only on their employees or the local community,” he added. “To be good corporate citizens they must also act to protect the environment.”
New Nature of Business: how business pioneers support biodiversity and ecosystem services, is available at www.newnatureofbusiness.org.