We are a member in the partner network of BION Biodiversity Bonn. BION is an evolving biodiversity network of local, national and international partners in the city of Bonn, Germany. Bonn has succeeded over the past decade to shape for itself a new profile as the German United Nations City and a centre of international dialogue on key issues of the future. BION aims at leveraging synergies between all organisations working in the field of biodiversity. 

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. It is the first global agreement to cover all aspects of biological diversity: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), based in Montreal, Canada, was established to support the goals of the Convention.

At the 10th CBD conference in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, the 193 parties to the convention agreed upon many new goals for 2020. In doing so, they also ambitiously examined the role of the business community in protecting biodiversity (see CoP 10 decision X/21). At CBD-CoP 11 in India in 2012, they added decision XI/7. To mobilise business endeavours in this field, a number of instruments and recommendations were made to countries and business leaders worldwide. Among the many goals, one that stands out is the call to recreate initiatives around the world based on the exemplary network model of, for example, the 'Biodiversity in Good Company' Initiative. The CBD secretariat’s task is to support this process through dialogue and networking. In this light, the CBD secretariat has called into life a forum for international networking - the so-called Global Partnership on Business and Biodiversity. ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ and the Secretariat are closely working together to make the global partnership a real catalyst for change.

In January 2013 'Biodiversity in Good Company' and Fundación Biodiversidad signed a collaboration agreement in order to cooperate and network. Fundación Biodiversidad was established in 1998 as a public foundation of the Government of Spain, connected to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. It works to preserve the natural heritage and biodiversity, directing its conservation toward generating employment, wealth, and well-being in all of society, with special attention given to the rural setting. In the context of international Spanish commitments as a party to the CBD (see here), the environment ministry commissioned the foundation to establish a Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative in 2013 and further develop it. 'Biodiversity in Good Company' supports this process by making available its own experience as one of the first initiatives of this kind worldwide. Both institutions aim to network on a regular basis and explore ways of cooperating in future projects.

Website of the Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative: http://ieeb.fundacion-biodiversidad.es/

‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ was started as the International Business and Biodiversity in 2008 by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ as a mandate of the BMU. In developing this project, the GIZ created a far-reaching network, bringing the Initiative together with actors from political and business arenas as well as environmental protection associations. When the Initiative was restructured in 2011, GIZ remained an important partner and was a founding member of the new independent, member-driven association. GIZ and the Initiative were, for instance, able to capitalize on synergy effects stemming from a GIZ project on 'supply chain management with regards to biodiversity aspects'. A number of Initiative members were participating in this project as they assisted the development of a model that is being used to assess biodiversity impacts in supply chains.

The Global Compact Network Germany (Deutsches Global Compact Netzwerk-DGCN) is a business driven multi-stakeholder network. It acts as a learning and dialogue platform for the implementation of sustainability principles. In 2010, DGCN was taking on the topic of biodiversity as a priority theme together with the 'Biodiversity in Good Company' Initiative. DGCN members participated in regular workshops and other events during which they dealt with the various aspects of this topic. The 'Biodiversity in Good Company' Initiative contributed to these efforts by providing technical advice and fostering the exchange of experiences between its member companies and DGCN’s.

There is a project-based cooperation with econsense – Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business: At the beginning of 2013, the two business networks founded a joint working group dealing with management indicators on biodiversity. Currently, information on this project is available in German only

The European Business and Biodiversity Campaign (EBBC) was established in 2010 by the Global Nature Fund (GNF) together with six partner organisations from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, supported by the EU LIFE Programme. The goal is to make the topic of business and biodiversity accessible in a practically packaged manner to businesses. Additionally, businesses should have access to expert advice and implementation know-how. Initaitive and Campaign cooperate in various ways.

The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ and ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ have been cooperating since autumn 2014 as partners of the Discussion Forum Ecosystem Services. The UFZ scientists study the complex interactions between humans and the environment in cultivated and damaged landscapes. The scientists develop concepts and processes to help secure the natural foundations of human life for future generations.

iDiv, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, and ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ have been cooperating since autumn 2014 as partners of the Discussion Forum Ecosystem Services. iDiv a hub for international biodiversity science whose central mission is to promote theory-driven synthesis and data-driven theory. iDiv is based in Leipzig and is jointly hosted by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), and the University of Leipzig (UL), each of which has a long tradition in the biodiversity sciences.

Concurrent to India’s CBD Presidency 2012 - 2014, Indian companies have joined hands to address the critical issue of biodiversity loss under a national initiative. On 22 May 2014, the International Day for Biological Diversity, the India Business & Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) was officially launched.  'Biodiversity in Good Company' and IBBI are partners in order to learn from each other and further develop.  'Biodiversity in Good Company''s Leadership Declaration served as the model for the IBBI Declaration. Two companies, Volkswagen und Faber-Castell, are members in both initiatives. IBBI is supported by the GIZ Biodiversity Programme.

Website: www.businessbiodiversity.in 

Information on the launching event and partners (PDF)