Linking shareholder and natural value:managing biodiversity and ecosystem services risk in companies with an agricultural supply
As Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) decline, this is increasingly translating to business risk and opportunity linked to reputational risk, security of supply and legal compliance. Survey of 31 companies in the food, beverage and tobacco sectors painted a picture of early stage response, of pilot projects, developing but incompletely applied management tools and reactive rather than proactive management. Companies differed in their approaches, a number showed innovative and forward thinking practices. Even these failed to demonstrate comprehensively applied risk assessment processes. Hence, risks may be unmanaged and opportunities to build shareholder value missed.