Collaborating for Biodiversity: Our UBi Project Brings Together 160 Key Actors at the Dialogue Forum in Berlin At its most recent Dialogue Forum held in June 2023 in Berlin, Germany, our UBi (Business & Biodiversity) project brought together businesses, nature conservation organisations, policy makers and scientists to find new synergies toward halting and reversing biodiversity loss. The participants, including many from businesses and business associations, were addressed via video by the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Steffi Lemke. In her address, she emphasised the need for businesses to actively promote the conservation of biodiversity both nationally as well as on a global level. At the launch of the panel discussions, Dr. Christiane Schell from the Federal Office for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz), Martin Kaiser from Greenpeace, Dr. Sebastian Bolay from the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Dr. Christine Lemaitre from the German Sustainable Building Council reflected on the National Biodiversity Strategy and its current revision process, the EU taxonomy, and the need to accelerate our action toward preserving and protecting biodiversity. The panellists also discussed how the new German Supply Chain Act and standards such as EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) are having a positive effect and leading to a change in thinking and action among businesses and consumers alike. In addition to larger companies operating internationally, requirements for sustainability and financial reports are increasingly reaching small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well. This is where the UBi project comes into the picture with its support for companies of all sizes and across sectors to better integrate biodiversity into their day-to-day business. In the run-up to the Dialogue Forum, the UBi project partners conducted a survey asking companies about the relevance of biodiversity in their sector as well as the tools and offers that would help them to better integrate the topic in their daily business. “The survey shows that the topic of biodiversity is increasingly becoming relevant in companies and we are pleased to see that with the UBi project we are managing to support companies on a very concrete level. In particular, a new link to core topics that we engage on at the CSCP, such as Circular Economy or sustainable digitalisation, strikes to be at the heart of corporate value creation.”, noted Alexander Mannweiler, CSCP Senior Project Manager. At the Dialogue Forum, the UBi project presented new supporting measures and tools for companies to better integrate biodiversity into their business: the upcoming certification of near-natural company premises (by the DGNB Sustainability Certification and Commissions in cooperation with the Lake Constance Foundation) further training offers from the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry – DIHK for company representatives in the UBi network the supply chain award from the ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ Initiative e. V. At the second half of the event, the participants were divided into three panels. In the first panel, participants discussed about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and biodiversity, the key question being how can companies use AI & digitalisation to protect biodiversity. In the second panel, representatives from nature conservation, finance and public authorities discussed upcoming and existing regulations and the resulting necessities for reporting. The third panel focused on nature-based supply chains and changes in reporting requirements. The UBi project is part of the German federal programme on biodiversity and aims to raise awareness on the topic of biodiversity among businesses and business associations. The Dialogue Forum was organised by Biodiversity in Good Company, an UBi project partner. The CSCP coordinates the UBi project. For further questions, please contact Ellen Land. © Photo by Katja Zimmermann / Biodiversity in Good Company