Recognizing the critical role of biodiversity in maintaining the health of our food system and the planet, Ecotone (formerly Wessanen) teamed up with Quantis to assess its impacts on nature and develop a holistic, relevant and effective biodiversity strategy.
Challenge
Biodiversity is fundamental to long-term business continuity and resilience, for agri-food businesses and beyond. More than half of global GDP depends on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services (e.g. pollinators make crop production possible, while soil microorganisms are critical for soil fertility).
Companies that work to protect nature seize opportunities to address supply chain risks, while fostering trust with consumers and investors. What’s more, addressing biodiversity loss helps companies make progress on their climate goals, as well as other sustainability priorities, such as deforestation and land-use change.
Solutions
To provide Ecotone with a strong foundation on which to build a holistic, relevant and effective biodiversity strategy, Quantis used an innovative biodiversity assessment to evaluate the company’s value chain and map its impacts.
The assessment, based on a peer-reviewed methodology developed by Quantis and other experts, harnesses a life-cycle approach enriched with local considerations addressing climate change, water depletion, pollutant emission, land use and soil biodiversity.
Our collaboration with Quantis has given us an enhanced understanding of how to measure nature impacts at the portfolio level while incorporating client and asset specificities. It’s a solid new building block in the Group’s learning curve on nature. We have delved into the complex and evolving landscape of nature-related data and tools. Although modeling nature holistically remains highly challenging, valuable data are available and can serve as a foundation for robust impact analysis and enrich client engagement.
Aurore le Chatelier, CSR Group – Nature taskforce, Societe Generale
Results
The assessment results provided Ecotone with a clear view of its biodiversity hotspots and the activities that have the greatest impact on nature. These insights enabled the company to define the priorities that would underpin its biodiversity strategy and rebrand to strengthen the focus on its commitment to biodiversity.
Ecotone is currently working with Quantis to determine which levers of change to prioritize in its strategy, such as organic regenerative agriculture, shade grown coffee, avoided deforestation, and more.
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