Photo: IUCN
The conservation community has an important role to play in influencing business to safeguard people and nature and promote nature-based solutions. As IUCN’s Business Engagement Strategy states: business can be engaged directly, such as through joint landscape action plans, or indirectly, for example, by mobilising public policy to facilitate more sustainable practices.
Since 2018, IUCN’s BioBiz Exchange has received and responded to a number of questions, drawing on the expertise of IUCN Members and Commissions, staff and partners. A newly-curated resource guide provides the latest knowledge and tools aimed at helping the conservation community enhance their approach to business engagement, and thereby ensuring it is better positioned to influence business on its path to sustainability.
Tools and resources for building effective business engagement
By sharing this repository of guidance and materials, BioBiz Exchange aims to:
- Impact and influence how conservation organisations are engaging with business to generate positive change for biodiversity;
- Highlight the challenges and successes of engaging with business as well as lessons learned; and
- Promote case studies of effective business engagement.
These resources include how-to guides, presentation templates, speaking notes, slide decks, blog articles, webinars and more. Aimed mainly at conservation professionals, they are free and available to download, so they can be adapted to fit various situations.
These resources are now available through the following channels:
The BioBiz Exchange Resource Guide
The BioBiz Exchange Resource Guide provides a one-stop-shop for guidance on typical questions that arise when planning and carrying out strategies to influence business. Each section includes brief guidance with links to download additional resources.
The guide, which will be rolled-out over the coming months, is designed to answer the following questions:
- Why does influencing business matter?
- What is your situation?
- What changes in business practices do you want to see?
- How can you design a tailored approach?
- How can you make a pitch?
- How do you take the business engagement to the next level?
- How to identify and manage risks related to engaging business?
The sections will be further populated with new resources on a regular basis.
Case studies on business engagement (PANORAMA)
On the PANORAMA Solutions for a Healthy Planet platform, BioBiz Exchange hosts a portal on business engagement that gathers examples where CSOs have directly or indirectly influenced business practices to improve socio-economic and environmental conditions. This database includes more than 500 case studies, more than a 100 of which include a business element. The portal on business engagement contains more than 50 case studies. These case studies are highlighted in quarterly webinars.
BioBiz webinars
The IUCN BioBiz Exchange initiative holds quarterly webinars with expert panellists and representatives from CSOs on themes raised by IUCN Members. All previous webinars can be viewed here. You can also find links to sign-up for future webinars.
BioBiz Exchange community of practice
The BioBiz Exchange also hosts a closed space for the conservation community to share how it is influencing and promoting better practices for nature and people. This Workplace community aims to:
- Catalyse knowledge exchange through peer-to-peer learning;
- Spark discussions around conservation and business topics;
- Contribute to networking opportunities for conservation practitioners;
- Identify champions who can support their peers to influence business.
If you would like to join, please contact BioBiz@iucn.org.
Focus on landscapes in West and Central Africa
Funded by the Agence Francaise de Développment (AFD), BioBiz Exchange prioritises civil society organisations (CSOs) that are interested in engaging business in landscapes, where existing pressures from economic activities are affecting key ecosystem services and/or the integrity of nationally-identified Key Biodiversity Areas.
In particular, IUCN is focused on providing support to CSOs that are active in landscapes in West and Central Africa. This experience will contribute to a framework that can be used to upscale business engagement in other regions in Africa and beyond.
Links to other initiatives
The BioBiz Exchange also complements and strengthens existing projects within the IUCN portfolio, by providing capacity building and training in other landscapes. For example, it works closely with the Shared Resources, Joint Solutions Programme, which is active in 16 countries and nine landscapes; and, the SUSTAIN-Africa Initiative, which works in designated economic growth corridors in Mozambique and Tanzania.
