Biodiversity & Land Use

Overview

Rich biodiversity is a crucial component of thriving economies. Since all products are derived from nature, it is important for natural materials and ecosystem services to be managed sustainably for continued, productive use.

We realize significant benefits by protecting biodiversity through better practices in land use and sourcing that affects land use. These benefits include:

A richer environment from which to source new products
Better opportunities to learn from nature and innovate from biomimicry
Enriching connectivity to nature

Resources

Business risks

We are all dependent on biodiversity and ecosystem services, but businesses may not always see the impacts they have on biodiversity and land as significant. Impacts often aren’t significant – until they are added up with the direct and indirect impacts of many others. For example, multiple developments within a county can significantly impact natural habitat, where one office building development alone does not. Procurement or supply chain practices of many may create cumulative market demands that indirectly cause deforestation in areas that are far away from day-to-day operations.

In more extreme and direct situations, exploitation of natural resources or damaging land uses may cross the line and constitute non-compliance with law. Such actions have clear consequences once uncovered.

Degrading or destroying ecosystem services can have cascading effects. When businesses individually or collectively over-consume natural resources, they create stressors that can cause resource scarcity. Loss of or damage to habitats and biodiversity can open a Pandora’s Box of extinctions, invasive species, predators and pests, and changes in ecosystems like the water cycle. All of these have costs to society. Any of these activities, when linked to a company’s operations, can cause harm to reputation and brand equity.

What can businesses do?

The protection and restoration of natural resources and ecosystem services ensures they can be used now and into the future. It can yield business benefits such as:

Increasing revenue from responsibly-produced goods and services
Improving access to financial capital from socially responsible investors
Improving sustainability reputation, credentials, and values of the organization
Enhancing social license to operate

Companies can play a vital role in developing innovative business approaches to conserve biological diversity and promote the fair and equitable sharing of its benefits. This is true even where direct impacts are small and indirect impacts are remote.

Ecosystem impacts

Activity conducted in or near an ecosystem can have negative effects on that ecosystem, such as habitat damage and destruction, soil degradation and erosion, or the effects of excessive water extraction or heat island creation.

Location fit

A bad location fit or incompatible use of land can damage the environment and relationships with the community, both of which can affect reputation and give rise to legal liability.

Transportation

Transportation is a central pillar of our economy and society. It enables people and goods to move around the world. It has become essential for societal growth and development.

Despite the substantial socioeconomic benefits, transport systems pose serious environmental and societal costs. The challenge for sustainability is not to do away with transport, but to make it sustainable, energy-efficient, and less dependent on fossil fuels.

Air pollution

Air pollution poses significant risks to human health and the environment. Vehicles produce air pollution during manufacturing, operation, and disposal processes. These pollutants can lead to health problems like respiratory illness such as asthma, as well as other problems like smog and acid rain.

Climate change and GHGs

Transportation also has a significant impact on climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The majority of GHG emissions from transportation come from the combustion of fossil fuel based products, like gasoline and diesel fuel, in internal combustion engines. Over half of the emissions created by the transportation sector are a result of passenger cars and light-weight trucks. The remainder of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation comes from other modes, including freight trucks, commercial aircraft, ships, boats, and trains as well as from leak in pipelines and lubricants used in the transportation industry.

According to the EPA, transportation is one of the largest sources of GHG emissions in the US. In 2014, transportation accounted for roughly 26% of total US GHG emissions, as shown in the graphic below.

For every kilometer traveled, there is a large disparity in the amount of emissions produced by the different modes of transport. For each metric ton moved one kilometer the following emissions are produced:

Plane (air cargo): 500g
Truck: 60-150g
Train/Rail: 30-100g
Ship: 10-40g

To put those measurements in perspective, a one-ton shipment from Bangladesh to the United States by air emits 6,609,500 grams of CO2. The same shipment by waterway, using the highest estimated emissions figure, emits 528,760 grams of CO2.

Biodiversity and land impacts

In addition to the impacts from pollution, transportation has other social and environmental costs such as road crashes, traffic congestion, and damage to natural habitats and biodiversity. Water runoff from roadways is polluted by oil, rubber residue, and road salts. Roads dissect wildlife habitats, causing habitat fragmentation, which leads to a decrease in biodiversity among species.

Transportation management

Approaches to managing the energy and environmental impacts of transportation include:

Reducing the number of miles traveled
Operating vehicles more efficiently
Using low-carbon fuels
Creating or adopting new and improving existing vehicle technologies

The approaches to transportation management listed above cover a range of activities. To get an idea of what’s involved, take a look at a few examples of transportation-related projects:

Managing transportation logistics to reduce fuel requirements. Use logistics to plan and create more efficient routes (speed caps and routing to minimize driving through city traffic) to reduce fuel requirements and emissions.
Selecting a building site near public transportation. Identify and consider transportation distances when selecting office or distribution sites.
Encourage environmentally friendly or reduced travel. Educate the workforce to prioritize modes of transportation to have the least environmental impact. Encourage employees to rideshare and carpool.
Incentivizing use of public transportation. Adopt benefit programs that provide employees with incentives to use public transportation and reduce individual car travel such as pre-tax flex-spending or subsidy benefits public transportation and free transit passes. Provide incentives for use of local car/bicycle share programs and companies to enable public transportation commuting by making cars and bicycles readily available for transportation requirements during the workday.

Competing priorities

Biodiversity is about the number of species, ecosystems, and habitats present on Earth. But beyond that, it is about the richness and range of living things present in a particular area. It is about the vitality of life on Earth.

Land use is about the allocation, exploitation, and management of land, based on economic and social drivers and norms. It ranges from the extraction of resources to preservation for natural habitat and recreation. How we interact with the land has a significant effect on biodiversity.

From a systems thinking perspective, the relationship between biodiversity and land use is complex and competitive. Understanding these links between people and their environment is fundamental to a flourishing life on the planet.

Biodiversity & Land Use