Goal A1: Step 2
Who within your business will do this work? How will your organisation support them? Who will be ultimately accountable?
If you don’t have someone in mind, you may need to recruit or engage with a consultancy. Depending on your business size and sector, you may only need one person to do this work, or you may require a team of people.
Start small but ensure that you allocate some resources to build that team as you progress on your journey
Business for Biodiversity Ireland is on a mission to support Irish businesses to start and progress their journey to nature positive. Understanding and providing for the needs of our business community is critical and this will evolve as the platform matures
Data
You will need intimate knowledge of how your business operates. What are the key inputs (natural resources, raw materials, water, energy, chemicals etc), what are the key processes and what are the key outputs (waste, pollution, disturbances, emissions).
If your organisation is located near a key biodiversity area, you may need access to habitat data to establish the condition of the area and whether or not your business is having an impact on it. This can be a challenging endeavour.
If your business has a significant land bank, you may have to gather data on the condition of that land bank and how it is supporting local biodiversity.
Time
Initially, this process will take some time. We have estimated that the first phase (assessment) is perhaps the longest and your organisation should expect to spend at least one month pulling relevant together.
In total, the initial time requirement for the assessment phase is estimated to be between three and six months (Full Time Equivalent), depending on your business.
As you progress through your journey and learn the ropes, maintenance of the process will take less time, but it will be ongoing
Finance
Although there is no financial outlay by doing this in-house, you will have to allocate this work to someone within your business and there may be costs associated with that.
Investment may be required to make the changes that you identify through your assessments.
Expertise
Conducting a biodiversity assessment requires a level of expertise and knowledge in biodiversity and sustainability issues. Your analyst should have knowledge on international and national policy, reporting standards and biodiversity-related legislation that may impact your business. They must adept at managing and manipulating environmental data and familiar with mapping information with tools such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to understand biogeographical interactions.
They must understand supply chains and sustainable commodity sourcing and they must have a direct connection to the decision-makers within the organisation. They must also have access to and be able to interpret company financial information, in particular, pensions and investments.
Got any queries or suggestions? Get in touch via our contact form below or at manager@businessforbiodiversity.ie
Business for Biodiversity Ireland were awarded the Climate-Positive Website Accreditation by the Eco- Friendly Web Alliance
Business for Biodiversity Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation supporting businesses in their journey to nature positive.
