RIASSUNTO
Description of the Material
Corporate assessment of the impacts and dependencies associated with ecosystem services has come of age. It happened quietly with the 2012 update of the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards, and resulting expansion of due diligence for the 79 banks that have signed on to following the Equator Principles. The result is that a new bar has now been set in terms of expectations of companies and international best practice, particularly for the extractives industry in which so many joint venture partners rely on investors who will now consider ecosystem services issues.
Application/Development
For many in the oil and gas industry, however, the question is: What are the steps to undertaking an ecosystem services analytical approach?
This paper will describe why, when, and how to integrate ecosystem services (ES) approach within oil and gas companies’ existing processes, in order to deliver strong performance for projects, major installations and pipelines.
Results, Observations, Conclusions
The findings are based on 7 years of tracking ecosystem services analytical approaches within BSR’s Ecosystem Services Working Group as well as a series of interviews conducted between 2011 and 2013 with corporate pilot testers of ecosystem services analytical approaches. The paper will lay out a series of steps, including: (1) identify, (2) assess, (3) select, (4) define, (5) execute, and (6) operate. All steps include specific ecosystem services questions—that can be added to existing processes—as well as recommendations on particular analytical tools, publicly available maps and databases, and additional resources.
Significance of Subject Matter
This paper will demonstrate how an ecosystem services approach can be applied within companies immediately, both to develop internal capabilities and refine risk management and opportunity identification processes.