Acknowledging the development of the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity and the pioneering work done by some Parties in engaging with business towards the implementation of the Convention, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of national and regional initiatives on business and biodiversity,
Taking note of the results and recommendations from the Third and Fourth Meetings of the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity,
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welcoming the business forum held in parallel to the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, and
acknowledging that it supports the objectives of the Convention and its Protocols both by raising awareness and by demonstrating the commitment of the private sector to these objectives,
Acknowledging that many companies around the world are not aware of the importance or the benefits of biodiversity to their affairs or of the positive effects of mainstreaming the values of biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services into their business models and into supply chains,
Understanding the importance of engaging small and medium enterprises with respect to biodiversity and their need for capacity-building and support,
Recognizing that businesses play a role in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development,
Welcoming the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization as an important instrument for involving business in contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Convention;
Recognizing the key role of Governments in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and of living in harmony with nature, and in providing an enabling environment to promote sustainability,
Noting that gaps exist with regard to reporting on business activities that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity,
Understanding that sustainable procurement, both public and private, can be a major driver of change across many business sectors and should thus be encouraged,
1.Invites Parties, taking into account their national policies, needs and priorities:
(a)To work with stakeholders and relevant organizations to develop innovative mechanisms to support the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity and its associated national and regional initiatives;
(b)To cooperate with the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity and its associated national and regional initiatives in order to assist businesses in reporting on their efforts to mainstream the objectives of the Convention and its Protocols, as well as the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and to provide related information through the clearing-house mechanism;
(c)To seek to foster public and private partnerships, in consultation with civil society, to promote the development and implementation of biodiversity strategies within the business sector, including on resource mobilization, and to strengthen related capacity-building;
(d)To continue work to create an enabling environment, taking into account existing decisions of the Conference of the Parties, such that businesses, including publicly funded and local community businesses, which could include a range of actors, can effectively implement the objectives of the Convention and its Protocols, as well as the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, taking into account the needs of small and medium enterprises, and designing appropriate frameworks to address these needs with respect to social and environmental responsibility;
(e)To promote the consideration of biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services related to business in other relevant multilateral forums, with a view to integrating these issues into the agendas of these forums;
2.Encourages businesses:
(a)To analyse the impacts of business decisions and operations on biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, and prepare action plans for integrating biodiversity into their operations;
(b)To include in their reporting frameworks considerations related to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, and ensure that the actions taken by companies, including through their supply chains, are captured, taking into account the objectives of the Convention, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets;
(c)To enhance the capacity of senior levels of management and line staff, and along supply chains with regard to information on the benefits of, and impacts on, biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services;
(d)To integrate biodiversity considerations into procurement policies;
(e)To actively contribute to the resource mobilization strategy of the Convention to support the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets;
(f)To increase, as appropriate, participation in and cooperation with the BioTrade initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and initiatives of other organizations involved in biotrade, at the national, regional and global levels, that are committed to the sustainable use of biodiversity, sustainable harvesting practices, and access and benefit-sharing under the framework of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization;
3.Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, and in addition to the work specified in relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties:
(a)To support Parties, in particular developing countries, in their efforts to promote the integration of biodiversity considerations into the business sector;
(b)To support, and collaborate with, the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity and its associated national and regional initiatives, as appropriate and in conjunction with other programmes, in developing reports on the progress of biodiversity mainstreaming by businesses, including by establishing a typology of possible actions, through, among other means, the convening of a technical workshop on reporting frameworks in this area for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation prior to the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
(c)To collaborate with the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity and its associated national and regional initiatives in order to support capacity-building for businesses with a view to mainstreaming biodiversity into business decisions;
(d)To enhance, in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity and its associated national and regional initiatives, the contribution of the business sector to the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, for example, through the identification of key milestones and the development of guidance for business to support the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
(e)To promote cooperation and synergies with other forums regarding issues that are relevant for biodiversity and business engagement with respect to, inter alia, commodity indicators and sustainable production and consumption;
(f)To compile information, and analyse best practices, standards and research on biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, and the valuation of those services, to facilitate assessments of the contributions by business to achieving the objectives of the Convention and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and to assist in the dissemination of this information to various relevant forums;
(g)To provide a report on the information referred to in paragraph 1 (b) above, and make it available to a future meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
