The Biodiversity Foundation has participated in the Third Meeting of the Global Alliance for Business and Biodiversity, held in Montreal (Canada) on 2 and 3 October.

The Third Meeting of the Global Alliance for Business and Biodiversity is a meeting point for companies, researchers and other stakeholders to share the progress that has been made globally with the incorporation of biodiversity into business operations and the development of networks among trading partners.

In this framework, the Director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Sonia Castañeda, presents the Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IEEB), an initiative launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment through the Biodiversity Foundation, to promote, together with the business sector, economic development compatible with the conservation of biodiversity.

The Montreal meeting has a threefold objective. On the one hand, to be a meeting point to offer companies and others involved information and concrete studies in relation to decisions taken by the COP and the specific problems of the sector, to promote the integration of biodiversity in business activities. In addition, it aims to be the stage for companies to contribute to sharing recommendations for future decisions that the COP adopts in this field. Finally, it seeks to serve to strengthen the Global Alliance by bringing together participants from around the world who will share initiatives at both the regional and national levels in business and biodiversity.

A summary of all the conclusions of this meeting will be presented at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, COP 12, to be held in October 2014 in South Korea.

In this sense, different topics of interest in relation to the business field are addressed and the importance of biodiversity and sustainability in the field of the agri-food, extraction industries and consumer goods sectors will be analysed. In addition, the decisions taken in this area by COP 11 and how they can be taken into account in the preparation of COP 12 will be discussed.

Representatives from the world of business, trade associations, NGOs and academia come together at this meeting, which was born in response to the decisions taken at COP 10 (held in Nagoya, in 2010) and COP 11 (Hyderabad, 2012). The meeting thus serves as a platform to strengthen the commitment of companies to sustainable development, in line with the ongoing consultations on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), developed at the Rio+20 Conference, which took place in June 2012 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

You can see all the images of the Third Meeting of the Global Alliance for Business and Biodiversity by clicking here.