According to a release from Shell, the case for conserving nature is “strong and getting stronger.” The statement was made in a report published by the company in conjunction with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN. The report says that policy reforms to increase commercial rewards for conserving biodiversity are called for. The report also calls for increased penalties for biodiversity loss and better information on the biodiversity performance of business.
“As the world wakes up to the accelerating loss of biological diversity, businesses are increasingly viewing biodiversity conservation as a potential profit center,” says the report, ‘Building Biodiversity Business.’
"There are numerous pro-biodiversity business opportunities that can generate significant profits as well as benefits for nature," says Dr Joshua Bishop, IUCN’s Senior Advisor on Economics and the Environment. "But a few inspiring examples aren’t enough. This report shows how to achieve a major increase in business investment in biodiversity conservation, by linking policy reforms, technical assistance and innovative financing tools."
The report says that ecotourism is one example of how money can be made from looking after species and their habitats. Environmentally-friendly tourism is expanding at a rate of 20-30% annually, compared with 9% for tourism as a whole.
Markets for organic agriculture and sustainably-harvested timber are growing at double-digit rates the report said. Another major area of growth is the demand for climate mitigation services, such as the protection of forests and wetlands to absorb carbon dioxide and Bio-prospecting, the search for new compounds, genes and organisms in the wild, is also a biodiversity business on the rise. Some suggest the sector could be worth as much as $500 million by 2050.
"For businesses to conserve biodiversity it must ultimately become more profitable to protect nature and use natural resources sustainably, rather than ignore or destroy it," says Sachin Kapila, Group Biodiversity Adviser at Shell International Ltd.