Corporate Ecosystem Valuation

In the course of daily operations, all businesses impact and depend on ecosystems and the essential ecosystem services they provide. In fact it is hard to think of any economic activity that does not benefit from ecosystem services or in some way alter the ecosystems around it. Corporate ecosystem valuation - Building the Business case refers to the use of ecosystem valuation by business where both ecosystem degradation and the benefits provided by ecosystem services are explicitly accounted for with the intention of informing and improving corporate decision-making.

For instance, freshwater is a critical input for every conceivable major industrial process; the pharmaceutical industry benefits from genetic resources; agribusiness and the food sector depend on ecosystem services like pollination, and pest and erosion regulation; forest industries – and the downstream construction, communications and packaging sectors – rely on continued supplies of timber and wood fiber; all extractive industries cause some level of ecosystem disturbance; while tourism increasingly builds on an ecosystem’s cultural services and aesthetic values; and all building owners and plant operators benefit from the natural hazard regulation service that some ecosystems provide.