The business and industry initiative for the conservation of biological diversity launched by Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel in May 2008 is extending its activities. A few days ago the "Business and Biodiversity Initiative" went online with its own internet portal allowing even closer international networking for its members. The website provides extensive information to its members and the interested public on the methods and instruments of how biodiversity conservation can be embedded in business practices.
Notable businesses from Germany, Japan and Brazil already support the Federal Government in its role as lead country of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Minister Gabriel declared: "Companies have a prominent responsibility in the global protection of biological diversity. I think it is extremely important that leading companies analyse all effects of their economic activities on nature, mitigate negative impacts to the best possible extent and provide comprehensive ecological compensation for inevitable interventions."
The Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Berlin coordinates the business initiative on behalf of the Federal Environment Ministry. With a forward-looking management the participating enterprises want to become a worldwide role model for business and industry and communicate their practices more strongly to the public. In a 'Leadership Declaration' signed in 2008, the members of the initiative committed themselves to making biodiversity a firm part of their management systems. The 10th Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP10), due to take in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010, will give its own emphasis to the "Business and Biodiversity Initiative".