Paris forum puts business commitments to nature under scrutiny
· BehindLines newsroom
How can a commitment to nature shape a company's decisions? That question runs through the Forum biodiversité & économie, scheduled for 3 and 4 November at the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie in Paris. The French biodiversity agency, the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), which organises the event, says this sixth edition will offer more than sixty sessions connecting economic activity with the living world.
Examining the tools
The programme separates participants beginning their approach from those seeking to develop it. Discussions cover purchasing, monitoring indicators, funding and local partnerships. A further track focuses on overseas territories. These topics address successive stages of action: understanding an activity's effects, choosing ways to intervene and then tracking change.
A workshop organised by EVEA on Tuesday 3 November is due to examine biodiversity indicators used in life cycle assessment. Its description proposes teamwork using cards. It also stresses the limits of these indicators in addressing certain pressures on nature, and their use alongside other tools. The aim is to discuss their strengths and limitations, without treating any single method as a complete measure of biodiversity.
Restoration on the agenda
The bird protection organisation Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux has announced its participation in a session on how businesses can contribute to nature restoration. Cédric Marteau is scheduled to chair it, with contributions announced from Claire Varret of EDF and Charlotte Migne of Suez. The programme lists the meeting for Wednesday 4 November.
The session is expected to explore action on company land and support for restoration projects. These are proposals for discussion, rather than an assessment of participating companies' environmental performance.
The OFB also announces discussions developed with participants and a session looking towards 2050. As of 2 November, these events still lie ahead. Any commitments made, and their possible effects, will need to be assessed after the forum.