What is Business for Biodiversity?

The purpose of the platform is to encourage and incentivise Irish businesses to assess their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity

Established in 2022, Business for Biodiversity aims to support Irish business in their transition to nature positive.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have jointly funded the development of a national business and biodiversity platform to promote and support measurable, certifiable actions on biodiversity within the private sector.

The purpose of the Platform is to encourage and incentivise Irish businesses to assess their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, with a view to mitigating and availing of associated risks and opportunities respectively.

The overarching aim is to support implementation of Ireland’s National Biodiversity Action Plan, to halt harmful activities and promote the restoration and regeneration of Ireland’s natural heritage.

There is no future for “Business as Usual”

The four themes of the platform

Awareness

Through the provision of educational webinars, the platform will endeavour to increase business community understanding of the human dependence on biodiversity and the implications of biodiversity loss for our communities.

Networking & mentoring

The platform will provide an accessible and searchable membership database to enable similar businesses to connect and share experiences on biodiversity actions. Collaboration will also be facilitated through the hosting of dedicated workshops.

Policy

The platform will host all policies relating to biodiversity in Ireland and update members on relevant amendments. Businesses will be encouraged to inform the creation of policies and sectoral best practice guidelines.

Actions & impact

The platform will pay significant attention to identifying nature-based solutions and a “Payment for Ecosystem Services” scheme that will address both climate change and biodiversity loss. It will focus on developing and leveraging existing biodiversity related KPIs.