Companies need (species) diversity – On the way to a nature-friendly economy
Biodiversity and functioning ecosystems are the basis of our lives. Species extinction and the destruction of nature not only have a massive impact on humanity, but also on the economy. More than half of the global gross domestic product is directly dependent on nature. However, unlike climate, biodiversity has hardly been taken into account economically to date. The World Conference on Nature in Montreal adopted ambitious nature conservation goals that must now be implemented. A nature-compatible economy must become the standard in order to halt the loss of biodiversity and restore damaged nature.
As part of the Environmental Award Symposium, which took place the day before the German Environmental Award ceremony in Lübeck, we discussed how companies can become more “nature-positive” with winners of the German Environmental Award and representatives from business, science and civil society. And answers were given to the questions of what concrete steps and what framework conditions and standards are now needed on the way to an environmentally friendly economy.
Program
14:00 Welcome and introduction
Alexander Bonde, Secretary General of the German Federal Environmental Foundation
14:10 Impulse
Dr. Christof Schenck, Managing Director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society and winner of the German Environmental Award 2022
Dr. Tobias Raffel, Visiting Scientist, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
14:40 – 16:00 Discussion with
- Antje von Dewitz, Managing Director VAUDE, Deputy Chairman Chairwoman of the DBU Board of Trustees
- Silke Düwel-Rieth, Director Sustainable Business & Markets WWF-Germany
- Georg Hoffmann, Chairman of the “Biodiversity in Good Company” Initiative / Ritter Sport
- Dr. Ralf Lütz, Senior Advisor, Sustainable Advisory & Business, BNP Paribas S.A.
- Dr. Tobias Raffel, Visiting Scientist, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
Moderated by Jana Münkel, Deutschlandradio
You can watch the award ceremony from October 29, 2023, here (in German language).
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