Dear readers,
What does biodiversity have to do with a publishing company? More than you might think! To learn more about it, read the portrait of our member oekom verlag, a German publishing house dedicated to sustainability, in this newsletter.
Biological diversity has to do with beer (and other beverages!), as well. We are pleased to welcome a new member – Neumarkter Lammsbräu joint the initiative in March. Some further news, as always, can be found in the "Biodiversity Pieces" section.
Yours sincerely,
'Biodiversity in Good Company' Initiative
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BIODIVERSITY ... at the oekom publishing house
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Jacob Radloff, Publisher at oekom publishing house Munich
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"Paper is - next to its employees - oekom's most important resource. Logging destroys the habitat of many animal and plant species. Therefore it is my highest priority to purchase paper from responsible forest management certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or, whenever possible, recycled paper. However, it would be naive to suppose that there is no further scope of action for a publisher to preserve biodiversity. There are also other fields of production and distribution of publications with high ecological relevance contributing to the loss of biodiversity. Therefore, I exercise my influence as a publisher with regard to e. g. ecological features of the publications or the selection of our service companies."
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oekom's journalistic aims
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oekom based in Munich with agencies in Hamburg and Zurich is committed to preserve biodiversity and to protect the climate. The leading publisher for sustainability topics in German speaking countries pursues this objective by raising awareness for biodiversity and other important ecological issues with its nine journals, its rapidly growing booklist and its numerous brochures.
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Within the last 25 years oekom has become a journalistic think tank for ecology and sustainability. Its media bring together relevant actors, encourage debates and thus open new perspectives for a sustainable economic and social development. With its unique network and its professional team the publisher concentrates specialist know-how.
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oekom has published various books, journals and brochures particularly dealing with biodiversity. With journalistic campaigns the publisher reaches also target groups beyond expert circles.
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"Within 25 years Jacob Radloff and the oekom verlag have become engaged and essential intermediaries of sustainability as the central theme of the 21st century." (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Haber)
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Sustainability? An important CEO topic!
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Protection of biodiversity and the environment are not only the focus of oekom‘s publications but also form the basis of production and management. Thus, there is a specialist department for sustainability working closely with the executive board. oekom's sustainability representative is responsible for safeguarding the environmental objectives of the company by regularly examining the internal processes with regard to environmental compliance.
oekom purchases paper from responsible forest management. Publications are printed only on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and on recycled paper. The office exclusively uses recycled paper carrying the eco-label Blue Angel. Recycled paper not only helps to protect the natural environment – its production also requires less water, chemicals and energy. Almost all the employees use their bikes or public transport for their travel to work. For business trips all staff consistently uses trains. Apart from that, the company compensates for unavoidable CO2-emissions by investing in a Gold Standard project for the protection of biodiversity and the climate.
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oekom sets new standards within the publishing sector
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In Germany there are approximately 2,800 publishing companies and about 22,000 further institutions operating in the publishing sector. Printed products have, likewise their electronic equivalents, significant impacts on the environment. But, is it possible to reduce these impacts by adopting adequate measures?
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In order to answer this question oekom has launched the project "Green Publishing" four years ago. Its aim was firstly, to raise the publishing sector's awareness for the consequences of their activities, and secondly, to develop criteria for a new standard of environmentally friendly publishing products in cooperation with the IFEU – Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Heidelberg, and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW). The results of the project have been published in the brochure "Ideas for Greener Pages".
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Based on these results oekom has run the follow-up project "Development of an eco-label Blue Angel for eco-friendly printed products" in cooperation with experts of IFEU and Oekopol – Institute for Environmental Strategies in Hamburg. On 1st March, 2015, the new eco-label Blue Angel for printing products (RAL-UZ 195) was introduced. The Blue Angel is the best known eco-label in Germany.
Both projects were promoted and financed by the Federal Environment Agency.
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+++ BIODIVERSITY PIECES +++
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The renowned company Neumarkter Lammsbräu has been the world’s leading organic brewery for 30 years.
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Mr Shoji Saraya (left) and Prof. R. Yamamoto (the chief juror) at the award ceremony
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Saraya Co., Ltd.'s Sustainability Report 2014 receives the Environmental Communication Award Special Prize for Biodiversity Reporting Excellence again.The award is organized by the Japanese Ministry of Environment and the Global Environmental Forum.
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Dialogue Forum 2015, copyright BfN, U. Euler
Silvia Ohms, Neumarkter Lammsbräu, at the Dialogue Forum 2015; copyright U. Euler
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Dialogue forum 2015 „Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt 2020“—our members showcased their management approaches
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"Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt 2020" ("Enterprise Biological Diversity 2020"), initiated by the Federal Environment Ministry in 2013, was set up as a dialogue and action platform for politics, business federations, and nature conservancy organizations. The round table approach is expanding and has turned out to be very successful. This year's annual event, which took place on 26 March 2015 in Frankfurt organised by the Environment Ministry and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, had a focus on corporate management approaches. Many member companies of 'Biodiversity in Good Company' took the opportunity to showcase their solutions and talk about the challenges. Continue reading in German
Please contact us if you want to learn more about the German platform "Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt 2020".
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In the middle: Dr. Bernd Scheifele, CEO HeidelbergCement, and Patricia Zurita, CEO BirdLife
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The world’s largest aggregates producer and the largest partnership for nature have been working together since 2012 to conserve and restore ecosystems in various European quarrying sites.
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SAVE-THE-DATE 2015 CBD Business Forum 11/12 Nov 2015 in Helsinki, Finland
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The 2015 CBD Business and Biodiversity Forum: Practices, Solutions and the Way Forward (which will also encompass the 5th Meeting of the CBD Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity) will take place 11-12 November 2015 in Helsinki, Finland. The details of the forum agenda are currently being finalized. The event will be hosted by Finland's Ministry of the Environment and the FIBS Corporate Responsibility Network. Further information to follow soon.
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